


A Change in Reality:  Volume One

by IzzyIzz, jademoonfire



Series: A Change in Reality [1]
Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: F/M, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-26
Updated: 2013-01-27
Packaged: 2017-11-17 02:39:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 50,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/546733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IzzyIzz/pseuds/IzzyIzz, https://archiveofourown.org/users/jademoonfire/pseuds/jademoonfire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While attempting to send off Thor and Loki as they go back to Asgard, The Avengers are suddenly teleported to another reality.  In this version of reality, they find themselves without any of the qualities that made them special, but as luck would have it, they meet a couple of fans who are willing to help them out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The Avengers gathered to see Thor and Loki go back to Asgard.  Tony walked up and shook Thor’s hand.  “See ya.” Thor nodded while he held on to Loki, “Yes, when I come back I shall visit.”  Loki, who was gagged, rolled his eyes at the conversation. Clint came up from behind and clapped Thor on the shoulder, “You take care of him. Make sure he doesn’t come back alright?”    
  
Thor smiled at him, “I will make sure of it.”  Steve and Bruce came up next to say their farewells.  Steve took Thor’s hand in his, “It was a pleasure working with you.”  Thor smiled back at Steve, “And it was a pleasure to go to battle with you.”    
  
“Take care,” Bruce said.  Natasha had walked up at this point and she only smiled at Thor and took a step back.  
  
“Farewell my friends,” Thor said.  They all took a few steps back, waved and said their various goodbyes.  Thor led Loki along towards the area that they were to depart from.  Loki pulled away from Thor as they made it into the circle, which Thor assumed was from anger.  Thor just rolled his eyes and laughed jovially, “We’ll be home soon brother.”  
  
Suddenly, there was a blinding green light that came in between the pair.  The rest of The Avengers rushed forward towards Thor, who instinctively grabbed Loki.  All of them could feel themselves being thrust forward which Thor felt like he was being thrown through the Bifrost.  They found themselves standing in the same spot that they once were.  
  
“What just happened?’ Clint asked with his brows furrowed.  
  
“I’m not sure,” responded Bruce, looking around.     
  
“We’re still in New York, aren’t we?” Natasha asked taking a couple of steps away from the group.  
  
“Let’s check.”  Tony replied taking out his cell phone, “Jarvis, where are we?”  When there was no response, Tony tried again, “Jarvis?”   There was still no reply.  “What the hell is going on?”  
  
They all looked around.  “Where’s Selvig?” Clint asked.    
  
“Where’s my bike?” Steve pondered. They started to realize that there were subtle differences to the scene around them, their respective vehicles were gone, Selvig and the Tesseract were missing, and Loki was no longer bound and gagged.    
  
“Guys, I can’t reach anyone on my phone,” Bruce commented.  The group was startled out of their confusion by a squeal.  
  
“Oh my Odin! This is the spot!” Squealed a pale young woman of medium build with long brown hair and big stormy-grey eyes in her early twenties as she ran forward to the bridge that lay just ahead of them.  
  
“This is the spot where Thor took Loki back?” The other woman, who had shoulder length black hair, blue eyes and a caramel complexion asked calmly as she followed behind her younger friend. “Raina, what’s up?”  She went on to say as she bumped into her hyper friend.  
  
Raina could not speak; all she could do is stare ahead and point. “R-Rae!” She finally got out. The older girl looked to where Raina’s hand pointed. Just a few feet ahead of them stood a group of people that they thought were dressed up just like The Avengers.  
  
“Dude! They look so much like them, that cosplay is so legit!” Raina squeaked out; she then ran up to Thor and grabbed his hammer.  “Wow, this hammer is so real looking!”  
  
“Rain!” Rachel scolded as she came up behind Raina, smacking her on the back of the head, “You can’t just go grabbing other people’s stuff!”  She took the hammer back from Raina and handed it to Thor, “I’m so sorry, she just gets a little excited sometimes.”  
  
“Ow, dude what the hell?” Rain muttered as she rubbed her sore head.  
  
Thor took his hammer and examined it closely, “How can you raise Mjolnir?”  
  
“You ladies got a cell phone on ya?” Tony asked before Raina or Rachel could answer Thor as he began walking towards them.  
  
“Yeah,” responded Rain, giggling. She quickly pulled her phone from her pocket, she handed Tony her phone and he took it, giving her a strange look and thinking that they looked familiar; Rachel was also giving him a similar look, just not as extreme. Tony went to click the phone, and then made a strange garbled noise as he saw the picture that was set as the background.  It was a picture of Loki standing in the holding container on the helicarrier. At this point the rest of the Avengers, and Loki, still being held by Thor, had joined them.  
  
“You uh, wanna explain where you got this?” Tony questioned the two.    
  
“Uh, from the movie.”  Rachel said, cocking her head.  
  
“What movie?”    
  
Rain giggled.  “The Avengers movie, silly.“  
  
“I don’t follow.”  Tony said, somewhat irritated.  Raina looked at Tony, and then the rest of the Avengers.  
  
“What do you mean?  You’re cosplaying them.”  Rachel looked between Raina and Tony, and then something clicked.  
  
“Rain, I don’t think they know about the movie.”  
  
“What movie!?  How do you know about the Avengers?” Tony questioned, frustrated.    
  
Rain and Rachel shared a look.  “Are you guys okay?  Did you hit your heads or something?”  
  
Natasha stepped forward, “No, we didn’t hit our heads, just tell us what’s going on.”  Other people were stopping and staring at the group so Rachel suggested that they move to a new location.  Rachel led the way and as they walked, Raina walked next to Loki, not taking her eyes off of him.  It took the group a while to get to Rain and Rae’s house.  The house was out of the city and the street that they lived on only had three houses on it.  
  
One was on the right side as they walked down; Rachel explained that no one lived in that one yet, and that their house was the one at the very end on the left side and that they had paid more to get close to the woods and a river.  Their house had white siding and purple shutters.  There was a covered wrap-around porch, which didn’t cover the right side of the house. Once they got to the house, Rachel let them in and when they had all gotten inside, Rachel led them past the stairs on the left and down the hall and into the living room.  
  
“So,” Rachel started awkwardly once they were all assembled, “Are you sure you’re okay?  How do you not know about the Avengers movie?”  
  
“ _We’re_ the Avengers,” Steve insisted.    
  
“But not Loki,” Clint added.  Rain, who was still staring at Loki, replied with, “We know.”  
  
“But _how_?” Tony asked.  Rachel walked over to a desk in the living room and opened a laptop.  She typed something into her search engine.  Once she had gotten her page to load she turned the laptop to face the group.  
  
“The movie,” she stated simply.  The Avengers walked into the living room and gathered around the laptop.  They looked at the screen to see themselves in what looked like a movie preview, which was confirmed when the movie title popped up.  
  
“What-" Bruce started.  
  
“The hell.” Clint finished.  
  
“We could be in an alternate version of our world.” Natasha said.  
  
“We are,” Loki snapped.  Everyone turned to look at Loki.  “What are you talking about brother?”    
  
“Amora,” Loki hissed.    
  
“The enchantress?”  Rain asked sitting down on a sofa and looking at Loki.  Thor’s brows contorted in confusion, “Yes, you are familiar with our people?”  
  
“She’s recently become obsessed with Norse mythology,” Rachel said sending a sidelong glance at Loki.  Thor turned to Loki who was still standing in the doorway to the living room.  
  
“Why brother? Why would you bring the Enchantress into your plans?” Thor asked, clearly hurt.  
  
“I couldn’t rely on just one plan brother; however, I did not think that she would bring me along as well.” Loki hissed.  
  
“Bring you where?”  Steve asked, alarmed.    
  
Loki shrugged, “A parallel reality.”  
  
“What do you mean Loki?  Why would you have her take us to a parallel reality?” Thor asked.  
  
“It was just supposed to be you.” Loki said while glaring at Thor, “She just wanted you, but everyone else got caught when they rushed forward to help you,” Loki said while jabbing a finger at the rest of the Avengers, “And I got taken when you grabbed me!” Loki exclaimed.  The room was silent for a full minute.  
  
“Loki, which version of our world are we in?  What does that mean for us?”  Bruce asked.  
  
“How should I know?  I did not pick it,” Loki hissed.  Rachel interrupted what was starting to become a fight.  “Well, _if_ you guys aren’t crazy, and you actually are in a parallel reality, then this is the one where you are comic book characters.  And I’d say that any power you had won’t work here.  Raina could pick up Thor’s hammer.”  The Avengers stared at her.  
  
“W-we’re not real?”  Steve asked, shocked and sinking into an armchair.  Rachel looked sympathetically towards Steve as she leaned against the desk, “Sorry, but technically, no, none of you are real here.”  
  
“Well, I hate to break it to you ladies, but you’re not real in our world either,”  Tony started, “I know why you two looked so familiar, you’re from that movie that Pepper made me watch with her.”  The two young women just stared at Tony as he plopped down onto a sofa.  
  
“Oh. Wasn’t expecting that.” Rachel said, then added after a second of thought, “Though it does seem like poetic justice.”  
  
“What does?” Bruce asked, joining Tony.  
  
“You guys are not real and in a movie in this universe and we’re not real and in a movie in yours.”  
  
“The point is,” Rain interjected, “How can they get back?”  Everyone’s attention turned back to Loki.  
  
“I don’t know,” he started indignantly, moving into the room and sitting on the arm of the sofa that Rain was on, “there was no plan to return.  Thor was to stay here with Amora.  No one else was supposed to come here.”  He reminded everyone again.  
  
“Well wasn’t she in love with Thor?  Wouldn’t she have come with you guys?”  Raina asked as if it were obvious.    
  
“If she’s here, can’t she get us back?” Steve asked, hopefully.    
  
“But if we don’t have our technology and powers, how could she get to us here?”  Natasha interjected; she and Clint took the love seat.  
  
“Well, until we can manage to figure that out you can all stay here-“  
  
“Raina-“ Rachel cut in.  
  
“We have plenty of room and everything, as well as enough money to buy you some clothes.” Raina was getting excited.  
  
“Rain, I know what you’re thinking.”  
  
“We would be most grateful.” Thor told them.  Rain practically began to glow as she began giggling.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While attempting to send off Thor and Loki as they go back to Asgard, The Avengers are suddenly teleported to another reality. In this version of reality, they find themselves without any of the qualities that made them special, but as luck would have it, they meet a couple of fans who are willing to help them out.
> 
> Story co-written with Stephanie--izzy-izz.tumblr.com

Rachel glared at Raina, but then said, “Sure, let me show you to some of the spare rooms and all the pull out couches.” Rachel waved them towards her as she began to walk through the house.  The house had what the Avengers found out to be the entertainment room immediately left of the door, which contained three couches that surrounded a large TV. The entertainment room had two doors, the first one was immediately left of the front door of the house and beside the stairs that led to the second floor, the second one led into the living room.  
  
Down from the entertainment room was the connected living room, which held yet another, smaller TV, another large couch, a loveseat and two chairs. Passed that was an unused office space.  The room on the immediate right of the front door was the dining room, which held a good sized table. It also had two doors, one was in the hall, directly across from the stairs and the other was a pair of sliding doors connecting the dining room with the kitchen.  Across from the living room was the kitchen, followed by a half bathroom and the laundry room.  The back door was next to the laundry room.    
  
Through the whole ‘tour’ Loki and Rain walked behind everyone else; Raina could not take her eyes off of Loki. In turn, Loki would glance at her and see the beaming smile that lay on her face and would quickly turn away.  Once they had finished the bottom floor, they went up the stairs. As they walked up the stairs, the Avengers could see a fairly wide hall and six doors, three on each side.  The first room on the left was a closet that held linens. It was followed by a guest room, which eventually became Loki’s bedroom. The other room on the left was Raina’s, which had its own bathroom.  On the right was the bathroom for that floor, then another guest room followed by Rachel’s room, also a master suite.  
  
“And this is Rain and mine’s rooms.” Rae said as they reached the end of the hall, “I can move some of my stuff into Raina’s room to open up another room.  So, I guess you can just decide where you’ll sleep amongst yourselves. Otherwise we don’t really have a set time for dinner or anything you can just eat what you want whenever you feel hungry.” Rachel finished. “Any questions?” Raina raised her hand.  The Avengers all turned to look towards her and Rachel sighed in annoyance.  
  
“What Rain?” Rachel grumbled.  
  
“Does this mean I can’t walk around in a towel when I get out of the shower?” Rain asked.  
  
“You’ve never done that before.”  
  
“I just wanted to be sure.”  
  
“Is _she_ okay?” Clint countered the previous comment that Rachel and Raina had asked.  
  
“She has issues.”  
  
“Yes, yes I do. Who wants to watch TV?”  
  


* * *

  
  
“So they think the kid killed his whole class and is now in a death row prison where he has to entertain civilians to survive?” Clint summarized the show that was currently being shown on the TV.  
  
“You got it!” Rain chirped.  
  
“This is...interesting indeed.” Loki muttered.  
  
“This is horrifying.” Steve cringed.  
  
“What madness is this form of entertainment?!” Thor declared. Steve got up and went over to where Natasha, Tony and Bruce were going through some of Rain and Rachel’s various book collection.  
  
“This is a whole lot of poetry and Stephen king.” Bruce commented as he picked up a book of collected poetry from Edgar Allan Poe. Hearing another blood curdling scream from the TV, Steve cringed.  
  
“And these books,” Tony held up a Harry Potter book, “It’s like two different reading styles.”  
  
“The poetry and stuff on the right side is Rain’s, the classic literature, poetry and the Harry Potter set on the left is mine.” Rachel answered from her spot at the table where she was on the computer.  
  
“Well,” Rain stood from her spot on the couch, “B-R-B my bromates, I’m gonna change into my pajamas.”  Skipping and humming Rain left the room.  
  
“She is a peculiar young woman is she not?” Thor spoke for all of them.  
  
“I think she has more cats in her bag than ‘ol rock of ages over there.” Tony motioned towards Loki, who promptly returned it with a glare. “No offense Rachel.”  
  
“None taken.” Rachel returned as she kept her eyes on her computer screen. Suddenly the phone began ringing. Exhaling angrily Rachel stood and walked over to grab the phone.  
  
“What the hell man?!” Rachel growled into the phone. “Rain what do you mean you locked yourself outside? Why are you even outside in the first place? Fine I’m coming.” The Avengers watched in wonder as Rachel made her way over to the front door. “Where are you at? If this is another prank-” Her voice was cut off by the sound of the front door slamming shut and locking, leaving Rachel outside by herself.  
  
Rain walked down the hall and over to Rachel’s computer, picked it up and placed it onto a shelf in the fridge; returning to her spot on the couch. “I’m sure you can appreciate my mischief.” She gleamed at Loki.  The front door opened and shut as Rachel walked back in only to start growling at Rain again.  
  
“Where is she?”  
  
“I’m thirsty can you grab me my drink from the fridge?” Raina changed the subject. Rachel walked into the kitchen.  
  
“Is it like this every day?” Natasha asked.  
  
“This? No, it’s a lot worse usually.” Rain answered.  
  
“Usually she gets fireworks.” Rachel told them as she returned from the kitchen with her computer, returning to her spot at the table. “Dude, I was messaging Jess and Dom on Skype by the way.”  
  
“Oh, sorry dude,” Raina said, giggling.  
  
“Who?” Thor asked.  
  
“Jessica and Dominic are Rae’s little brother and sister.”  
  
“Well, step-brother and -sister.  They were my stepfather’s kids.”  
  
“What happened to him?” Natasha asked.  
  
“He and my mother were killed in a car accident a few years ago. There was a chorus of “Oh’s,” “I’m so sorry’s” and “My condolences” from the group.  
  
“Thanks,” Rachel said, “But being the oldest, I’m their sole provider.”  
  
“That must be so difficult,” Steve commented.  
  
“It was, not so much anymore.”  
  
“How old are they?” Natasha asked.  
  
“Jess is eighteen and Dom is fifteen.”  
  
“Why don’t they live here with you?”  Rachel sighed, it was clearly something that she didn’t agree with, “Rain and I wanted to live here, but Dom and Jess didn’t want to leave their school, so since she’s legal, and it’s her senior year, I let them stay, but once Jess leaves, I’m going to make Dom live with me.”  Natasha nodded at Rachel’s explanation.  
  
“He doesn’t like me though,” Raina complained.  
  
“He’s going to have to; he’s going to live with you in a few months.”  
  


* * *

  
  
After much protest and drunk-like stumbling around from Rain, Rachel had finally gotten her out of the living room and into her own room.  
  
“Well, goodnight everyone. If you need any extra pillows or blankets they’re in the hall closet.” Rachel told the Avengers and Loki then left to go to Rain’s room.  
  
“Shouldn’t someone stay up to watch Loki?” Natasha asked.  
  
“None of us have powers or any money or anything so it’s not like he’s got anywhere to go.” Bruce stated.  
  
“Do not worry my friends; my brother will not attempt to flee.” Thor assured them.  
  
“What would _I_ do? I have no powers. Where would I go?” Loki snapped at them.  
  
“I’ll stay up on first watch.” Clint finally concluded.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While attempting to send off Thor and Loki as they go back to Asgard, The Avengers are suddenly teleported to another reality. In this version of reality, they find themselves without any of the qualities that made them special, but as luck would have it, they meet a couple of fans who are willing to help them out.
> 
> Story co-written with Stephanie--izzy-izz.tumblr.com

Rae thought that she had moved all of her important belongings into her room, but when it came time for her to brush her teeth, she found something vital missing, so she headed back to her recently vacated room.  Rachel knocked on the door twice and waited.  It opened to reveal Steve.  “Hi,” Rachel said.  He looked at this woman in what Steve considered revealing pajamas and though he knew it was socially acceptable for people to wear fewer clothes, Rachel’s shorts and tank top made Steve blush.  
  
“How can I help you ma’am?” Rae smiled to herself at being called ma’am, she thought that it was endearing.  “Um, I think I left my toothbrush in here.”  Steve opened the door further to let her in. “What color is it?”  Rachel stepped into the room and walked into her bathroom.  “Blue,” she replied, picking it up and showing him, “Thanks.”  She started walking out. “You’re welcome ma’am.”  Rachel stopped at the door and turned to face him.  “You don’t have to call me ‘ma’am.’”  Steve smiled.  “Yes, I do, it’s the way I was raised.”  She laughed, “Alright, well then I’ll call you sir. Goodnight sir.” Rachel exited the room and walked back to Raina’s.  “Captain America is in my bedroom.” She said, laughing. “This is ridiculous.  It’s like a dream.”  
  
Raina, who was sitting on the bed laughed as well.  “I know; we’ve got the Avengers in our house.  This is like a fangirl’s dream.”  Rachel giggled.  “It’s too weird.”  Rachel headed into the bathroom as Raina sat in the bed, waiting for her friend to come to bed.  After Rachel had finished in the bathroom, she got into the bed.  “You know, you’re acting a little creepy with Loki.”  Rain laughed.    
  
“But seriously Rain,” Rae started, “Cool down a little bit.  They could be here awhile.”    
  
“Let’s hope so. Oh and I think we need a rule.” Raina said.    
  
“And that would be?”  
  
“Tony never gets out of the house.”   
  
Rachel laughed, “Sure.” Rachel reached over and turned out the light.  
  
“Goodnight kid.”  
  
“Night Rae.”

* * *

 

It was later that night when everyone had finally fallen asleep. Everybody save for Raina. Quietly she opened her bedroom door and slipped to one of the spare bedrooms where Loki was sleeping. Clint sat asleep in a chair that was positioned right next to the door. Raina giggled inwardly as she opened the door, crept in and closed it behind her.  She sat herself on the trunk that sat at the end of the bed, facing where Loki currently lay.  
  
“May I ask what you are doing in my room Miss Raina?” Loki’s voice came through the darkness.  
  
“Watching you sleep.” She answered plainly.  
  
“Obviously. How did you manage to get into this room, I am being guarded.” Loki sat up in the bed so as to watch her more closely.  
  
“Remember those drinks you all had? I drugged everyone else’s, they’re fast asleep, completely passed out.”  
  
“How....resourceful. Tell me, why are you watching me sleep?” Raina became quiet for several moments making Loki wonder if she herself had fallen asleep.  
  
“You were lied to for so many years. No one truly appreciating, you not even your parents, or at least who you thought were your parents. Even as you dangled over nothingness on the brink of possible death, you were still told of how unworthy you are. You think you’re alone. Well know this, you are not alone.” And with that she left Loki to his thoughts and went back to her own bedroom.  
  


* * *

  
  
Loki awoke earlier than the Avengers that morning and silently made his way to Rain’s room, after Rachel had passed his room on her way downstairs.  
  
“Raina?” He tapped on the door silently as he softly called her name.  
  
“Come in.” Her voice came from the other side of the door. Loki opened the door and walked in, closing it behind him. Rain’s room had comic and Norse mythology books lying around everywhere. In the corner was a small table with a computer where Rain was currently sitting.  
  
“Thought about what I said?” She asked him as she closed her laptop shut and turned to face him.  
  
“You told me that I wasn’t alone. What do you mean by that?” Loki questioned as he went to sit down on the end of her bed.  
  
“I grew up trying to impress my parents; nothing was ever good enough for them. My younger sister got all the attention. School was the main issue between my parents and me. I could never get a good enough grade for them and soon enough, I turned to lying. They would ask for my grades and I would lie. Thankfully I managed to finally finish one of my novels and it took off. Rachel would edit all my novels and we would split the winnings 50/50. So maybe my life hasn’t been as extreme as yours, but I do know the pain you are going through.” Loki was quiet for a few moments, thinking on what Rain had just revealed to him.  
  
“I...thank you, Raina.” He spoke softly.  
  
“Please, call me Rain.”  
  
“Thank you then, Rain.”  
  
“You’d probably better get back to your room before the Avengers notice that you’re not there.” Loki nodded in agreement and then rose from the bed, walking over to the door.  
  
“Oh, and Loki,” Rain called. Loki turned towards her only to have arms encircle his abdomen. Not sure what was going on, he returned the hug. They stayed in an embrace for a few moments more, and then Rain released him, going back to her computer. Loki took one last glance at Rain then left to go back to his room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While attempting to send off Thor and Loki as they go back to Asgard, The Avengers are suddenly teleported to another reality. In this version of reality, they find themselves without any of the qualities that made them special, but as luck would have it, they meet a couple of fans who are willing to help them out.
> 
> Story co-written with Stephanie--izzy-izz.tumblr.com

Bruce rose from his spot on the pull-out couch, groaning in slight pain. “I feel like I have a hangover.” He groaned and began to gently massage his temple.  
  
“That was some dream man. We got sucked into a parallel world.” Tony rose from his couch and looked around, “Oh that was real. Why do I feel hung-over?”  
  
“I’ll make you guys some coffee, you all look terrible.” Rachel said upon walking into the entertainment room where the Avengers had decided to crash.  
  
“Where’s Loki?” Steve asked the group after looking around.  
  
“Still in his room asleep.” Clint told him, walking down the stairs.  
  
“So, I was thinking that I could go buy you all some clothes today.” Rachel announced.  
  
“Okay,” Natasha said.  
  
“But that would mean that I’d be leaving you here with Rain.”  Everyone it the room became immediately uncomfortable.  “Shouldn’t someone come with you?” Steve asked, obviously hoping to avoid the potential dangers, “She could help you hold the clothes.”  Rachel seemed to think about it for a moment.  “Yes, but she’ll probably make the trip last longer, so it’d be quicker if I went by myself.”  Rachel walked into the kitchen to begin the coffee.  The Avengers stared after her.  “How do we get out of this?”  Natasha whispered, “We can’t stay with that girl, she’ll probably get us all killed.”    
  
“And we know she’s got an obsession with Loki,” Thor added.    
  
“So what do we do?” Tony asked.    
  
“You guys are the Avengers and you’re saying that you can’t take on a twenty-one year old?” Rachel asked, coming back with two cups of coffee.  She handed one to Tony and the other to Bruce. Rachel walked back into the kitchen and came back with more coffee, handing these cups to Natasha and Clint, “You’re trained assassins, and those skills won’t just disappear.” Bruce looked over to them, “She’s got a point, and it’s not like Loki has any powers.”  Rachel came back with two final cups.  She handed the last one to Steve and kept one for herself.  “Plus, there are more of you than them.  It’s six to two.  And two of your six are assassins.” She reminded them again, “They won’t be a match.”    
  
“But, why is it so important that we stay here?”  Tony asked. Rachel looked at him like he was crazy.    
  
“Famous actors played you in a really popular movie.  Everyone will recognize you.  It would cause so many issues if you were to be seen.”  
  
“You should still have someone go with you,” Clint said.  
  
“How about this, I think Bruce would probably be the best chance to not gain a lot of attention. No offense.” Rachel compromised.  
  
“Uh, none taken, I think.”  
  
“Now that that’s settled, I’ll go tell Rain-” Rachel was cut off by loud music and screaming that was coming from upstairs, in Rain’s room. Rachel rolled her eyes and sighed loudly. Leaving the room, Rachel went upstairs.  
  
“Rain!” Rachel yelled as she opened the bedroom door. Inside the room sat Rain on the floor, in a meditative state with a couple sticks of incense burning around the room. “Rain!” She yelled out once again. Rain opened up her eyes, looking up at Rachel. Rain stood up, turning off the music. “You yelled my lady?”  
  
“Bruce and I are going shopping for clothes for everyone; I need you to watch everyone while I’m gone, and no scheming with Loki.”  
  
“Alright, no deviancy. Don’t worry I’ll be responsible.”  
  
“Yeah, you better.” Rachel mock-warned.  
  
After taking down sizes from everyone, Rachel and Bruce walked out of the house and headed towards the center of the city.  “How are you holding up?”  Rachel asked as they walked.    
  
“Pretty good, this is still just so weird.  But I guess I should be used to weird by now.”  Bruce responded, chuckling.  “Yeah, I guess you should be.” Rachel answered.  
  
Bruce and Rachel walked into the first store and went to the women’s section to collect some clothes for Natasha.  As they shopped, a couple of people gave them some sidelong glances, so Rachel bought some sunglasses and a ball cap for Bruce to wear, grumbling that she knew bringing him was a bad idea.  
  


* * *

  
  
“So,” Rain started upon walking into the living room, “I will be your babysitter today!” She spoke happily while clapping her hands together.  
  
“Yeah.....I think I’ll just watch TV.” Tony said, pointing over to the television.  
  
“Right behind ya.” Clint spoke, following Tony to the TV.  
  
“Whatevs, I’m making breakfast,” Rain said as she walked into the kitchen, “who wants some?” She yelled out.  
  
“Some sustenance would be most wonderful!” Thor said.  
  
“You do realize that it’s almost noon, right?” Steve asked her.  
  
“Meh, breakfast can be eaten anytime of the day.” Rain called out, the sounds of pots and pans moving rang through the house, once she had finished, she handed out the food to the Avengers and walked up to Loki’s room.  
  
“Loki?” Rain knocked lightly on his bedroom door. “I made some food; I can bring some of it to you if you don’t want to be near everyone else.” The door opened to reveal a topless Loki; he had taken off his armor. Rain cleared her throat before squeaking out a quiet ‘Hi’. He raised an eyebrow at her reaction.  
  
“If you do not mind, I would rather not have to be around my ‘brother’ and his imbecile ‘friends’.” He practically spat out ‘brother’.  
  
“No prob, I’ll uh, I’ll be right back.” Rain tried to keep her eyes on his face, and not at his chest, especially considering how her eye level was not on her side today. She went to turn around, tripping over her feet as she did so, leaving Loki chuckling to himself behind her.  
  
“You know, for a psychotic kid, Raina can cook.” Clint said, with a partially full mouth of food.  
  
“Yeah, it’s pretty good.” Tony admitted his mouth also full of food.  
  
“You’re welcome!” Rain chirped as she skipped into the kitchen and came back out with another plate and some juice.  
  
“Loki.” Rain called, lightly kicking the door with her foot. “Delivery!” She sang as the door opened. Loki took the plate and cup from her. “Might not be as grand as what you have had in Asgard, but I tried my best. Don’t worry, it’s not poisoned.” Loki gave her a look.  
  
“Yes, well, I thank you.”  
  
“No problem my king.” Before Loki could make another response Rain skipped away back to the kitchen.  
  
“Thanks Rain, that was really good.” Natasha said as she handed Rain a couple of the Avenger’s empty plates.  
  
“So, Rain, what brings you and Rachel to New York?” Steve asked after Rain took some more plates to the kitchen.  
  
“Well, as you have probably already figured out, I’m a big fan of your movie, and since your movie was filmed here, I wanted to see the sights. Plus Rachel wanted to just see the other, normal sights. Now, if you will all excuse me, I have meditation to get back to.” With that Rain left the room and headed back to her own bedroom.  
  
“What the hell man?” Rain exclaimed upon opening her bedroom door. Inside the room sat Loki on her bed, reading one of her Thor comics. “Just come right in and make yourself at home why don’t ya.” She spoke sarcastically as she shut the door behind her.  
  
“Consider this payback for last night.” Loki smirked.  
  
“Pft, this is my home so technically I can do whatever I want.” Rain shot back as she went to sit on the bed next to Loki.  
  
“Even walk around in a towel?” Rain began to blush.  
  
“It was a joke! I have to keep up my psychotic reputation after all.” She defended, placing a hand over her chest.  
  
“So tell me,” Loki started as he went back to the comic book, “In what universe do I look like this?” He held up the older Thor comic book, showing Loki in tight green and gold clothing, with his long blonde hair held up in a ponytail. Rain could not help but snort.  
  
“That would be in the older days of the comic series. Seventy or so years ago. The choice of clothing for comic book characters back then was a bit...questionable.”  
  
“Hm.” Loki continued to read on.  
  
“Just don’t touch anything else alright?” Raid stood from her bed, “Now if you will, I should probably go watch the others.”  
  
“Now what might you have to hide from me?” Loki feigned having his feelings hurt.  
  
“Ha!” Rain yelled from the hallway. She got back into the living room to find Thor and Steve in the middle of an arm wrestling fight.  
  
“Seriously guys?” Rain asked half annoyed, half entertained.  
  
“Well I for one have been wondering who was stronger.” Tony admitted.  
  
“Yeah, especially now that we have no powers.” Clint went on. Rain sighed and rolled her eyes.  
  
“Just don’t break anything.” Natasha told them.  
  
“You know we don’t exactly live close to anyone, you guys could go outside to the backyard and spar or something with each other.” Rain told them. Thor and Steve stopped wrestling for a moment as they glanced at each other.  
  
“Outside it is!” Tony exclaimed as he led the way outside, the rest of the Avengers following. Rain smiled to herself as she sat down on the now vacant couch, propping her feet up onto the coffee table. Grabbing the remote she changed the TV channel to a horror movie, smiling even bigger seeing the gore and death pop up on the screen. Hearing movement from the stairs, Rain looked over to see Loki walking down the stairs, wearing what looked to be one of her extremely over sized shirts.  
  
“Seriously?! What part of ‘no touchie’ did you not understand?”  Loki sat himself down on the couch next to her.  
  
“I find it rather freeing compared to my armour.” Loki admitted, smirking deviously; truthfully he was just trying to mess with her as she had messed with him and the Avengers.  
  
“I’m sure you do, I’m sure you do.” Rain muttered as she turned back to the TV. As time went on and it started to get darker outside, the front door opened up and the Avengers walked in, tired out from sparing, except for Tony who did not do any fighting.  
  
“Looks like ya’ll had fun.” Rain said from where she sat on the couch.  
  
“Yes, well, I hope Rachel gets here soon with those clothes.” Clint told her as he sat down at the table.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While attempting to send off Thor and Loki as they go back to Asgard, The Avengers are suddenly teleported to another reality. In this version of reality, they find themselves without any of the qualities that made them special, but as luck would have it, they meet a couple of fans who are willing to help them out.
> 
> Story co-written with Stephanie--izzy-izz.tumblr.com

As the day wore on, Bruce and Rachel found themselves becoming hungry from all the shopping and the fact that they skipped breakfast, so they stopped for lunch, just grabbing some pizza.    
  
“Are you sure this is going to be enough for you?” Rachel asked, gesturing to the pizza doubtfully.    
  
“Yeah,” Bruce said as he ducked his head from another curious onlooker.  She had already made him change clothes an hour ago, but it hadn’t helped.  “Why are you so nervous?” Rachel questioned, “If they recognize you, they’ll think you’re the actor, not the scientist.  Besides,” Rachel hesitated for a moment, “Aren’t you used to being stared at?”    
  
Bruce stared at her, he didn’t want to talk about The Other Guy, but he had to tell someone.  “I’m just used to trying to be in control of the other guy, and I can’t feel him around.  I’m wondering where he is.”  
  
“Oh,” was Rachel’s response.  “So, if you don’t mind me asking, how did you get here?” Bruce asked.  
  
“Well, Rain and I are in business together and we’ve made a decent salary, so we decided to take a break and come here.  I wanted to come to New York, see the sights, visit Broadway, it’s always been a dream of mine, and it was no problem getting her to agree,” Rachel laughed at the memory, then frowned, “among other things. Then we just decided to stay.”  
  
“Have you always been together?” Bruce said, letting the other half of the sentence sit there.  
  
“Pretty much.  We met in high school.  Pottery class,” Rachel took a sip of her drink, “I was horrible at it.  But we were both kinda outcasts and knew no one in the class and so we ended up hanging out and became best friends.  We’ve been pretty much inseparable ever since.”  Bruce laughed, “But the differences between the two of you is, astronomical.”  
  
“You know what they say though, opposites attract.  She needs someone to take care of her and I need to take care of someone.  It’s actually a symbiotic relationship.  Why would you be uncomfortable about The Other Guy being gone?  Shouldn’t that be a breath of fresh air?”  
  
Bruce sighed feeling uncomfortable about the conversation being on him, “If we ever get back, it might be harder to control him.”  Rachel nodded sympathetically.  “I guess I’ll just have to try to enjoy it while it lasts though.”  Rachel smiled at Bruce, “That’s the spirit!  What do you say we get out of here and finish shopping?”  
  
“Okay.”    
  
Rachel paid for the meal and they started walking again.  
  
“So what were the other reasons for coming here?”  
  
“Oh,” Rachel said, looking down, “Um, well, I kinda have a stalker, he is my ex-boyfriend, but he left, then he got obsessive and keeps coming around and begging me to forgive him, it gets old really fast.”  
  
Bruce smiled, “I wouldn’t know anything about that.”  Rachel laughed and they continued walking to the next store in silence.  
  
Finally Rachel and Bruce had gathered what Rachel had deemed a decent amount of clothes and necessities for everyone.  “Just one more stop and then we can go home.”  Rachel said.  
  
“What else is there to get,” Bruce asked, the exasperation clear in his voice.  
  
“I thought that we could get some food to bring home.”  They went to a Mexican restaurant and ordered food for everyone.  They walked home in the twilight.  “I like this time of day,” Bruce stated, “I feel more at peace.”  
  
Rachel smiled at him, “It is a nice time; plus people won’t stare as much.”  Bruce laughed, “People staring at me is not a bother.”    
  
“It is for me.  It makes me nervous.”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“I grew up in the South.  People staring at me was never a good thing there.”  Bruce’s eyebrows contorted in confusion.  “I don’t understand.”  Rachel smiled.  “That’s why I like it up here.”  
  
“Are you going to explain?”    
.  
“I guess I can, you were open with me earlier.”  Rachel adjusted some of the bags as she walked.  “I’m mixed, and though it’s not a big deal anywhere else in the world, it is in the Southern United States.  I was told that I was going to hell, my parents were sinners and that no one could ever love me.  And people stared. And when people stared, it usually meant that they were going to do something.  Once I got beat up so bad that I was put into the hospital.”  Bruce looked at Rachel’s face; her eyes were far away, thinking about her childhood.    
  
“I’m sorry,” Bruce started, but Rachel’s laugh stopped him from continuing.  
  
“You didn’t do it.  It’s not your fault and you’re not racist. I’m not telling you for sympathy, okay?”  Bruce smiled at the woman, “Okay.”  
  
“I just wanted you to know that I have a vague understanding of how you feel, to be treated differently for something that you couldn’t help.  No one deserves to be judged.”  
  
Bruce nodded as they rounded the corner to get on their street, almost bumping into a petite blonde wearing green.  
  
“Excuse me,” Bruce said.  
  
“No, it was my mistake,” The woman said in a British accent.  Bruce nodded and they continued home, Rachel looking back at the woman, not recognizing her.    
  
“I can agree with that,” Bruce said, finishing the conversation.  They walked up to the front steps of the house.  “You ready?” Rachel asked, clearly concerned about what they may find inside.  Bruce took a deep breath and then nodded,  
  
“Let’s see if every one's alive.”  
  
The front door opened once again as Bruce and Rachel returned from their shopping trip, carrying several shopping bags full of clothes. Rain sniffed the air.  
  
“I smell food!!!” She yelled out, jumping up from the couch and scaring the Avengers and Loki.  
  
“Down girl! Down!” Rachel commanded her, getting in between Rain and Bruce, who was currently carrying the food. Rain pouted, crossing her arms. Rain returned to the couch, sitting on it backwards as she glared at the two, watching them like a wild animal ready to pounce on its prey.  
  
“Let us put the clothes down at least and then you’ll get some food. Okay?” Rachel told her.  
  
“Fine, just hurry. I’m starving.” Raina whined. Rachel and Bruce quickly put down the bags full of clothes at the bottom of the stairs and went into the living room where they distributed the food.  Rachel and Bruce got a collective ‘Thanks’ from everyone once the food was passed out, and for a while, the group just ate in silence.  
  
“So Tony,” Raina started, “What was the movie that you saw me and Rachel in?”  Tony looked up from his tacos, “Um, well, it was a movie about a girl who could talk to ghosts solving a dead girl’s murder.  And it’s supposed to be really sad because by the time they solve the murder the ghost and the girl are really close friends but the dead girl has to go on.”  Tony rolled his eyes as he spoke.  Rachel looked up, “Did the dead girl have cherry red hair?”  Tony looked shocked, “Well, parts of her hair were red, how’d you know?  No, let me guess, it’s a movie here too.”  
  
“Actually, it’s a book that Rain and I wrote.”  
  
“So that’s what you guys do?” Natasha asked.    
  
“Yeah, among other things,” Rain answered, “I come up with the creative stuff and then Rae makes it look good.”  
  
“Hey!” Rachel cried indignantly, “I come up with creative stuff too,” she clarified for the group.  “Besides the ghost story was my baby, but I do concede that it never would have made it to print without you.”  Rae smiled over at Rain.  
  
For the next couple of hours the group spent watching TV and talking amongst themselves. Raina was the first to finally admit to sleep.  
  
“Yet another day gone by with me doing nothing at all.” Raina said as she let out a big, loud yawn. “G’night ya’ll.” She waved at them as she walked up the stairs.  As the night wore on, others started to go to bed and since Steve was the one that was going to watch Loki that night, he stayed up, waiting for Loki to go to bed.  Eventually, Loki stood up, glaring at Steve as he did, “I’m going to retire now.”  Steve nodded at Loki and watched as he walked up the stairs.  
  
Steve looked over at Rachel, unsure of what to do.  Personally, he felt that he should stay with Rachel until she was ready to go to bed, but he knew that he needed to get to Loki.  Rachel noticed Steve looking over at her.  “What?”  She asked.    
  
“I’m trying to figure out what to do.”  Rachel cocked her head to the side, “I don’t understand.”  
  
“If I were in my time, I’d stay here with you until you were ready for bed and then go watch Loki, but this isn’t even the same century, so I just don’t know ma’am.” Rachel gave Steve an odd look, a mixture between pity and sympathy, “It’s really difficult for you.”  
  
Steve sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “Yeah.”  
  
“Well, this is really awkward for me,” Rachel started, Steve turned his head back towards her, “I usually have all of the advice, but I can’t even begin to comprehend your situation.”  Steve smiled, “I do have a one of a kind situation.”  
  
“You do,” Rachel agreed, “And please stop calling me ‘ma’am,’ at the very least, change it to ‘miss’ but I’d prefer if you didn’t call me either.”  
  
“But that’s not-”  Steve was cut short by Rachel holding her hand up.  “It doesn’t matter; I prefer to be called Rachel, or Rae. Or I really will refer to you exclusively as ‘Sir.’”  Steve smiled at her.  “But really, how are you handling all this?”  Rachel asked, gesturing to their surroundings.  
  
“What, the being in a different century or parallel universe?”  Rae chuckled, “Eh, either one.”  
  
“I don’t know,” he started, “I think being here will help when I go back.”  
  
“How so?”  
  
“Here, I’m getting small doses of what it’s like to live in the twenty first century, but not overwhelmed by it because you guys don’t want us wandering around outside.”  Rachel’s eyebrows rose.  
  
“Not that I’m complaining,” Steve added quickly, hoping that he hadn’t offended her.  Rachel waved her hand dismissively, “I wasn’t worried about that.  It’s just that you have such an optimistic outlook for this; if I were in your position, I’d have given up by now.”  Steve looked shocked at Rachel’s admission.  
  
“I can’t give up, that’s not who I am.”  Rachel looked up at him, “I know,” she stated simply, “But that’s why you’re Captain America and I’m not.  That and I can’t stand wearing anything red.”  Steve laughed, “I think you’d look great in red.”  
  
“Oh I do,” Rachel smirked cheekily, “I just really dislike red.”  
  
“I’ll make sure I don’t wear any in your presence then.”  Rachel grinned at him, “Well, I guess I can go on to bed now, I’m tired.”  
  
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”  
  
“I am actually tired, I’ve had a long day of shopping and praying that no one recognized Bruce.”  
  
“Okay, do you want me to walk you to your room?”  Rachel couldn’t contain her laughter, “Sure,” she said, standing up.  Steve followed suit and they went upstairs to Raina’s room, stopping outside of the closed door.    
  
“Thanks for walking me up here.”  Steve smiled, “No problem ma- Rachel.”    
  
“Goodnight Steve, have fun watching Loki.”  
  
“Goodnight Rachel.”  Rachel opened the bedroom door and walked into the room, shutting it behind her.  Steve walked over to Loki’s door and opened it, checking to make sure that the demi-god was still in his room.  Once Steve was sure that Loki was in fact in his bed, Steve closed the door and sat in the chair that had been placed outside of Loki’s room.  
  
A few hours later, Raina managed to sneak into Loki’s room, via the window and the first floor roof that covered the wrap-around porch. They sat and talked for some time, mostly just random things.  
  
“Do you ever miss it?” Raina asked him.  
  
“Miss what, Asgard? Not entirely. I was mostly either ignored or looked down upon, but, now that I am stuck in this reality I can take my time to plot. Though, once I am able to finally find a way to leave this reality and return to my own they will all pay.”  Loki told her with smite in his voice.  
  
“Oh, well, um, goodnight Loki.” Raina spoke softly with a look of sadness on her face; she stood and began to swiftly make her way to the door.  
  
“Rain wait,” Loki called after her as she went to grab the doorknob, rushing forward to grab her forearm. “Come with me.”  
  
“What?” Raina turned around to face him; Loki grabbed her other forearm with his last hand.  
  
“Come back to my reality with me. I can give you anything you want.”  
  
“I....I don’t know, I mean, I can’t just leave Rachel. Plus, you’re being taken back to Asgard for punishment for all that you’ve done. I don’t know if I could take that. You’ve been hurt for so long.”  
  
“I’m sorry for my comment earlier, will you ever forgive me?” Loki leaned his head down, placing his forehead on Rain’s. Her face immediately began to blush a bright red.  
  
“I’ll have to sleep on it.” Rain smirked up at him. “Now, goodnight my god of mischief.” Loki’s arms fell to his side, releasing Rain. Quietly she opened the door, looking outside before pulling out a small object from within her pockets and tossed it out the door down the hallway, distracting Steve who was on Loki duty for the night, and running down the hallway.  
  
Loki laughed. It was short and quiet, but it was a genuine laugh. Something he hadn’t done in some time. Raina was different to say the least and she reminded him a lot of himself, especially when he was younger.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While attempting to send off Thor and Loki as they go back to Asgard, The Avengers are suddenly teleported to another reality. In this version of reality, they find themselves without any of the qualities that made them special, but as luck would have it, they meet a couple of fans who are willing to help them out.
> 
> Story co-written with Stephanie--izzy-izz.tumblr.com

Thor woke up early; he had never been one to sleep in.  He sat up from the couch that he had slept on and rubbed his neck.   He stood up slowly, stretching as he did.  Thor had intended on walking upstairs to talk to his brother when he heard a cough in the kitchen. He went over to the kitchen where he found Rachel sitting there.  
  
“Good morning.”  
  
“Oh, hi Thor,” she said, looking up from her laptop.  She turned her attention back to her laptop and started typing furiously, but asked, “Do you want food?  I’m not sure how long it’s going to take everyone else to get up.  
  
“I would be grateful for something to drink,” Thor said, causing Rachel to smile.  “What do you want? Tea, Water, Coffee?”  
  
“Coffee would be wonderful.”  Rachel started to stand when Thor stopped her by saying, “If you could just show me where all of the ingredients are located, I would be more than happy to do it myself.”  Rachel looked alarmed at the idea of Thor making coffee, “Have you ever made coffee?” Thor smiled at her, “No, but I’m sure that with your guidance I can make satisfactory coffee.”  Rachel nodded, but was unable to return the smile, but then she thought, ‘I’m in here with him, how much can go wrong?’  
  
As it turned out, a lot can go wrong with Thor in the kitchen.  First he over filled the coffee grounds, then he accidentally poured water on top of them instead of the correct location.  Then he tried to turn it on even though Rachel told him not to which caused it to spark because Thor had ended up exposing wire and getting it wet.  
  
“I can’t believe you destroyed my coffee pot,” Rachel said stunned, “There should be an award for that.”    
  
“I apologize for-” Thor started for the tenth time.  
  
“It’s okay Thor.  I can always get a new one,” She said, “At least you didn’t get hurt, or burn the house down.”  
  
Rachel let Thor clean up the mess he had made and then let him help her make eggs, bacon and toast for breakfast for everyone.  Once they finished making breakfast, Rachel had Thor go around and wake everyone up.  As they all gathered in the dining room, Rachel asked, “So, how are you guys feeling today?”  
  
Clint looked up from his plate, “Awesome for people who are in the wrong version of reality.”  
  
Rachel raised her left eyebrow, “You slept on the living room sofa, you should probably fight someone for a bed tonight.”  
  
“Why does that matter?” He asked.  
  
“Because you’re being cranky today,” Rachel said with matter-of-fact tone.  Everyone, minus Raina, looked at Rachel with shocked eyes.  They weren’t expecting Rachel to treat them as children.  Clint blinked at her, not knowing how to respond.  “Besides,” Rae said, “I know you guys are going to have a hard time adjusting to being here, so I was just asking to be nice.”  
  
Clint frowned, feeling ashamed for snapping.  “So, how do you guys like the food?  Thor helped me make it.”  Everyone looked down at their plates, suddenly not feeling hungry.  
  
After they ate breakfast, everyone disbanded with Loki and Raina and Natasha and Clint disappearing upstairs.  Tony ended up taking Raina’s laptop and reading articles on the internet while Bruce took one of Rachel’s books and started reading it in the dining room.  Steve sat with Thor in the entertainment room with the TV on, though they weren’t really paying attention to it.  Rachel stayed in the kitchen, which was the perfect room to be in if someone wanted to the other three rooms because they all opened up to the kitchen.    
  
Rachel was typing on her laptop when she heard stomping on the stairs.  She moved her chair back in time to see Raina going into the living room and hitting Tony to get her laptop back.  
  
“Ow!”  
  
“Stealing is bad!” Raina said as she went back upstairs, causing Rachel to chuckle.  Soon enough, Tony headed into the kitchen and leaned over Rachel’s chair, getting right next to her face as he asked, “What’cha doing?”  Rachel sighed, knowing where this was going to go, “Important stuff.”  
  
“Like what?”  
  
“Work stuff Tony.  Can you get off me?  You’re breaking my concentration.”  Tony moved away and plopped down in the seat next to her.  
  
“What are you writing about?”  
  
“Can you go torment someone else?  I’m trying to make sure that I have enough money to feed you people for however long you’re going to be here.”  Tony smiled, “I don’t see the point, if I go bother someone else, they’re going to get mad and then you’re going to yell at me.  I’m all about efficiency, so I think I’ll just stay here.”  Rachel sighed, but didn’t argue with him anymore.  
  
“So you’re a fan right?  Who is your favorite Avenger?” Tony asked with a smirk.  
  
“Not you right now.”  
  
“But you don’t have a favorite?” He asked a little more seriously.  
  
“Not really,” Rachel said exasperatedly as she tried to get back into her rhythm of typing.  
  
“Well why not?”  
  
“How could I choose?  Everyone’s different, with their own set of skills and weaknesses.”  
  
“Why do you have to have such a diplomatic answer for everything?” Rachel sighed heavily, “Honestly, it just depends on the day, my mood changes and so do my preferences, but now that I know you are all real, I’m never going to say I have a favorite.”  
  
“Because you don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings?” Tony asked sarcastically.  
  
“Sure, can you please stop talking for a little while?”  
  
“No problem,” he said, “I’m not even here.”  Tony was silent for about ten minutes before he started making noises.  Rachel tried to ignore him, but he got louder and louder until she couldn’t concentrate.  
  
“Why don’t you go watch TV? No ones in the living room.”  
  
“I’m bored.”  
  
“Go find something else to do, read a book, torment Thor, I just don’t care.”  Tony sighed, “Can I use your laptop for something?”  
  
“No, I’m using my laptop right now.”  Tony frowned at her, “What are you even doing, it’s probably not even important.” Rachel looked at Tony, who smirked at her.  
  
“Please leave me alone.”  
  
“Why? What’re you going to do if I don’t?”  
  
“I’ll call Raina down here and tell her that you bent the spines on one of her books.”  
  
“But I didn’t.”  Rachel smirked at him, “But I did and she hasn’t noticed it yet, so I’ll just tell her you did it and she’ll leave me alone.”  Tony stared at her, trying to call her bluff, but then decided to back down for the moment.  They were sitting silently for a little while more when Bruce came in from the dining room to make himself something for lunch.  
  
“Hey, whose book do you have?” Tony asked.  Rachel looked up with fear until she realized that Bruce was holding one of her books.  
  
“Uh, Rachel’s why?” Bruce looked over at her, “Do you mind?”  
  
“Not at all, do you like it?”  
  
“It’s...going.” Bruce said, “It’s got a lot of sex in it.”  Rachel laughed and looked at the cover, “It’s Shakespeare, what do you expect?”  
  
“Yeah, but I’ve never seen this much in a play before.”  Rachel shrugged at Bruce’s words, “It’s one of his lesser known works, I had to buy it for a class.”  
  
“Which play is it?” Tony interrupted.  
  
“Measure for Measure.”  
  
“Never heard of it.” Tony said.  
  
“Were you not listening to me?  I said it was a lesser known work.”  
  
“Why are you being nice to him but mean to me?”  Rachel rolled her eyes and said, “Because he isn’t annoying me and you are.”  
  
“That’s because there’s nothing to do.” Tony said.  
  
“I’m just going to call Raina. She’ll find something to do.”  Tony grimaced, “Fine, I’ll behave.” Rachel nodded smugly and said, “Good.”  As she turned her attention back to her Bruce, Tony mumbled, “For now.”  Rachel heard him, but ignored him as she continued her conversation with Bruce.  
  
A couple more hours had passed with Tony tormenting Rachel and he was completely surprised that she stayed so calm for so long. He kept asking pointless questions, constantly repeating his earlier question of who her favorite Avenger was.  Tony knew he was pushing his luck, but by the time Clint and Natasha started making dinner, he was having too much fun figuring out exactly how far he could push Rachel before she did snap. It seemed as though she had much more patience than Pepper ever did.  
  
“Hey,” Tony said, leaning closer to Rae.  
  
“Will you please leave her alone?” Natasha asked.  
  
“Hey, can you get me something to drink?” Tony continued, ignoring Natasha. Rachel sighed, “Sure, what do you want?”  
  
“Anything,” he answered with nonchalance. Rachel got up and walked over to the refrigerator and got out a bottle of water.  She handed it to Tony as Bruce walked in with a four inch thick copy of Edgar Allen Poe’s complete works.  
  
“I don’t like this brand, can you get me something else?”  Rachel completely ignored Tony and asked Bruce whose copy he had.  
  
“Uh, I got it from your side, so...” He trailed off.  
  
“Can you hand it here?” Bruce looked over at Natasha and Clint with confusion, but handed the book to Rachel regardless.  Rachel took the book in both hands and turned her attention back to Tony, smiling at him.  She stood up and hit him in the shoulder with the book.  Bruce, Clint, Natasha and Tony gave her looks of shock. Tony was the only one who reacted yelling out dramatically, “Ow!  What was that for?”  
  
“Leave me the hell alone,” Rachel said, barely raising her voice.  She opened her mouth again, clearly to start yelling at Tony when they all heard a yell from the stairs.  It was Raina yelling for Rachel.  
  
“What?” Rachel yelled in the direction of the stairs.  
  
“Jess called your cell!  She’s waiting right now.  I put it in your room.”  
  
Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes.  She sent a warning look at Tony and walked out of the room and up the stairs saying, “Why couldn’t you have just brought it down here to me?”  
  
Natasha looked over at Tony, “If you get us kicked out because of you,” she started.  
  
“We are going to be banished?” Thor asked, entering the room, Steve behind him.  
  
“No,” Bruce said, calming the tension, “Tony’s been acting like a jerk and Natasha’s being mad at him.”  Thor looked at the other for confirmation and once he got it, he asked, “Well, what nourishment shall we have now?”  
  
Later, after they had all eaten, the Avengers found themselves lounging on the couches in the entertainment room.  
  
“I’m bored,” Tony whined.  
  
“Tony,” Natasha snapped, “Don’t start.”  
  
“Or I’ll hit you with my book again.”  Rachel said, waving the book that she had clutched to her chest.  
  
“Okay, okay,” Tony said, throwing his hands up in surrender, “I’ll be good.”  
  
“That’s what you said last time,” Raina giggled, “And you see what happened.”  
  
“You know,” Clint started, “If you went to bed, you wouldn’t be bored.”  
  
“It’s only six o’clock.  Who goes to bed at six?”  Rachel slid down in the seat as Raina stood up.  
  
“What’s wrong with going to bed at six? I go to bed at six.  It’s a respectable time to be asleep.  Right Steve?”  Steve’s eyes widened, “Uh, I’d rather not say,” he mumbled as slid down in his chair, mocking Rachel’s position.  
  
“Why the hell would you go to bed that early?” Tony had a look of shock on his face, and then it changed as he said, “Unless you’re planning on getting up at two or three in the morning.”  
  
“Uh, no,” Raina said, rolling her eyes, “I get up at noon.”  
  
“She needs a lot of sleep.” Rachel said, answering Tony’s unasked question.  
  
“That’s too much sleep,” Tony argued.  
  
“Oh would you rather have her up twenty hours a day like me?  I think that eighteen hours of sleep is perfect for her.”  
  
“She’s got a point.” Clint agreed.  
  
“Okay, fine, but I’m not going to sleep at six in the evening.”  
  
“No one said you had to,” Rae started, “Just that you can’t act like a jerk.  And stop saying you’re bored all the time.”  
  
“Okay,” Tony whined.  
  
“Good,” Rachel responded.  
  
The group sat in the living room quietly for a few more hours before they started to head to bed, Raina being the first one, so that she could spend some more time with Loki.  
  
“You know,” Bruce said, “If she’s going to keep staying with Loki, I don’t see why we need to keep watch.”  
  
“That’s a fair point,” Clint agreed.  
  
“My brother wouldn’t leave anyway,” Thor said, “He needs to stay with me if he ever has a chance of getting home.”  They all knew that what he said was true; if Amora was the one who would be able to take him back to their reality, then they would all need to be near her target, Thor.  As the evening wore on, the Avengers started to think, all with some degree of dread, what the next few days in the wrong reality were going to be like.  Not one of them could even fathom being stuck in this house for more than a week; none of them even thought that they could make it in this new reality for that long.  
  
Eventually Rachel said her farewells for the night and walked up to Rain’s room.  It was then that the Avengers drew scraps of paper to find out where they would be sleeping that night.  Clint and Bruce found themselves in the lucky position of drawing the upstairs bedrooms.


	7. Chapter 7

As soon as Clint woke up, he headed down from Rachel’s room.  Upon descending the stairs, he realized that he was the last one to get up.  
  
“Hey,” Natasha said from the couch.  
  
“Bout time,” Tony said, “Rae was making us wait to eat breakfast.”  
  
“Tony,” Rachel said from the kitchen, “ _You_ just got up. Besides, we’re still not done cooking.”    
  
Once Rachel and Thor had finished cooking, everyone minus Raina and Loki gathered into the dining room.  Though they hadn’t heard anything, the Avengers had gotten the distinct impression that Rachel wasn’t happy with the fact that Loki and Rain weren’t joining the group.  When they had all gathered and the food had been distributed, Tony asked, “So what’s on the agenda for today?”  
  
“I don’t know,” Rachel said, “Just hang out here, and don’t go where people can see you, so the backyard is in limits, but not the front, because we neighbors.”  The group nodded, but everyone could tell that Tony was unhappy. “Would you like a computer to play with?” Rachel asked earnestly.  
  
“You’d go and buy me a computer?”  Rachel laughed, “No I have two.”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“One for work and the other one is to hold music.”  
  
“How much music do you have?”  
  
“A lot.  I like varying my music on a semi-regular basis.”  
  
“What kind of music?” Natasha asked.  
  
“Just about anything except country.  Like, I have Irish folk music, popular American music from any decade past the thirties, rock, again from any decade, jazz, acoustic and I’m on a Showtunes kick right now, so my Broadway music collection is expanding rapidly.”  She laughed at the look on Natasha, Tony and Bruce’s faces, “I can’t think without noise, so music is a big help for me to get work done.”  
  
“Obviously,” Tony said, “But I can relate.”  
  
When they finished eating, Tony immediately went for Rachel’s work laptop while Bruce and Clint helped Rae clean up the mess. As the day wore on, the Avengers were becoming impatient with sitting around. Natasha was pacing every fifteen minutes, which was annoying Bruce, who kept telling Natasha, that it was driving him crazy. Tony kept complaining about how Rachel’s laptop didn’t have enough memory for what he was wanting do. Steve kept rolling his eyes at everything Tony was saying and telling him that he should just be grateful that Rachel was letting him borrow her laptop.  Thor and Clint had already broken a bowl that had been sitting on the table by the stairs.  In short, the Avengers were getting cabin fever.  
  
“Tony,” Rachel said after the twelfth time of Tony saying that her laptop was insufficient, “Make one if you don’t like mine.”  
  
“Oh I’d love to,” Tony said sarcastically, “But I’d have to leave to get everything, which you said was impossible.”  
  
“You want to shave and dye your hair blonde?” Rachel said rhetorically, “Then shut up about it.”  
  
“Will you please stop pacing?” Bruce asked tiredly.  
  
“What if I don’t want to?” Natasha challenged.  
  
“Okay!” Rachel yelled above all of the noise, “You people are all acting like children.  Seriously this is the fourth day you’ve been stuck in the house and you’re already at each other’s throats?”    
  
The Avengers put their heads down, embarrassed.  “I know that this is an adjustment,” Rachel continued softer, “And it’s not going to be easy, but to make this work, you have to put effort into it too.”  She sighed, “Natasha, why don’t you go upstairs to your room, you could read, watch TV, or pace until your heart’s content. Tony, make a list of whatever you need for a new laptop so I can go get it.  And why don’t you go into the entertainment room so you and Steve don’t try to kill each other?  Thor, you should join him so that you and Clint don’t break anything.”  The Avengers complied with what Rachel said for him to do and when Tony finished his list, Rachel headed out saying that Bruce was in charge and to use Thor to keep everyone in line.  
  


* * *

  
  
Inside Raina’s room, both Loki and Raina had been chatting and looking through Raina’s vast collection of comics and mythology books.  
  
“So, which mythology story is your favorite Rain?” Loki asked finally.  
  
“That’s a tough one, there are so many. There’s the one with you and the goat and Skadi.” Raina started as she put a finger to her chin in deep thought.  
  
“Wait, wha-” Loki was immediately taken back by her first response, his cheeks turning a slight red.  
  
“Then there’s the one about the birth of Sleipnir, and lastly the one where you and Thor crossed dressed to get back Mjolnir. What’s that look for?” Raina asked him as she turned to look at Loki after answering his question. “They weren’t that bad, quite hilarious actually...Mommy.” Raina busted out laughing.  
  
“That is not funny, you take that back!” Loki demanded.  
  
“Never!” Raina shouted as she stood from the bed, backing away slowly.  
  
“You will take it back, I demand it!” Loki followed in suit, rising from his spot on the bed; Raina’s grin grew even bigger, she loved to mess with people.  
  
“I say thee nay!” Loki lunged at Raina, who ducked downward and dodged him. Raina made a jump over her bed as Loki tried to grab her again.  
  
“Stay still, you are such a child!”  
  
“Am not! I’m 21 thank you very much, you old man!” Raina shot back. Loki rolled his eyes.  
  
“I’m immortal, technically it doesn’t count. Plus, Thor’s love interest is fairly young and mortal, so it’s fair grounds.” Raina had slid herself underneath her bed; Loki had gotten onto his stomach and was now trying to grab at her and pull her out.  
  
“I didn’t say it was going to affect my judgment of you, besides,” Raina slid herself close to Loki, her mouth at his ear; “I like older men.” Raina licked Loki’s cheek and quickly moved away from him.  
  
“That is so childish!” Loki wiped the saliva off of his cheek, “I’m guessing you need an older man to make up for all of your childishness?”  
  
“Something like that.” Raina giggled as she once again sat on top of the bed. “So, truce?”  
  
“For now.” Loki stated as he got up from his spot on the floor and went to sit on the bed next to Raina.  
  
“But seriously, I saw the way your face looked when Odin showed up in Jotunheim, to save your asses, riding Sleipnir. You care for him whether you wish to admit it or not.” Raina’s face softened, as did Loki’s eyes after she spoke. “Truthfully, I’m not trying to pick at you. Sometimes we can’t choose who we love, but, now that we are on the topic, tell me if Sigyn exists in your reality.”  Loki’s face took on a more serious look, a slightly darker look as well.  
  
“That woman thinks she is the most beautiful in all the nine realms. She is a ghastly harpy. We were supposed to be wed centuries ago, but I can’t stand being in her company for more than a few seconds.” Loki spat out angrily.  
  
“Ha! Well, I assure you that if she were to ever come around when I am in Asgard...I don’t think I’ll be able to act very pleasant if I hear her try to take you from me!” Raina stated proudly.  
  
“Oh I will be sure to enjoy that moment when it comes!” Loki started to laugh, Raina joining him seconds later.  
  
“I’m actually surprised by how you described her. In mythology she’s depicted to be a kinder person, seeing as how she’s the one who holds the bowl over your eyes to keep the poison from dripping into them in one of your punishments. Of course, then again I don’t think I could truly imagine you doing half the stuff that the mythology Loki is written to have done.”  
  
“Well think again my dear, I have done some most odd things, that is, mostly because Odin and the other gods forced me to.” Loki replied with disdain.  
  
Raina placed her hand on his arm gently, “Don’t worry, I’ll give them all a piece of my mind when I see them.” She told him playfully and meaningfully; Loki smiled in return.  
  
The two lapsed into a silence for several moments and eventually found themselves laying down on the bed together in embrace, Loki’s head lay on Raina’s chest and Raina rubbing her fingers through the length of Loki’s hair. This went on for mere seconds before Raina found herself queitly singing a lullaby that she had written some time ago:  
  
Hush my child don’t utter a word  
Momma’s gonna’ give you the entire world  
and if the world doesn’t bow to your whim  
Momma’s gonna’ give you a castle to rule  
and if those servants don’t listen  
Momma’s gonna’ give you a village to command  
and if that village brings out the torches  
Momma’s gonna’ give you a battle to win  
and if that battle goes sour  
Momma’s gonna’ cradle you to sleep  
So hush my child you shall be king  
but for now merely rest your eyes  
  
“You will make a wonderful mother someday.” Loki spoke up softly seconds after Raina had finished; Raina blushed.  
  
“I’ll have to do some growing up myself first before that.” She chuckled. “I came up with that song not all that long ago.” Raina went on after a few more moments of silence.  
  
“It’s a wondrous song. I daresay you had a certain someone in mind while you were writing it.” Loki jokingly stated. Raina snorted.  
  
“It’s not that good, I've come up with other, better stuff, but yeah, I’m much better with my written words than I am my spoken ones and perhaps I was thinking of a certain someone because that certain someone deserves a different type of attention...he deserved it a long time ago.” Raina’s voice was barely a whisper now.  
  
“But he has it now and that is all that matters to him now.” Loki concluded for her.  
  


* * *

  
  
When she got back, Rachel was surprised to find everyone gathered in the living room again. She put her new coffee maker in the kitchen and walked across to the living room. “Well at least no one’s dead,” She paused as she handed everything to Tony, “Or did you kill Loki and Rain and bury them in the backyard?”  They all looked at her like she was insane, “No one’s dead,” Clint finally answered.  
  
“Good, have you all eaten?”  
  
“Not yet,” Natasha said.  
  
“Okay,” Rachel said, “I’m not cooking, what do you guys like for pizza?”  
  
Rachel ended up ordering seven pizzas but worried the entire time that someone was going to be left wanting more food.  She ended up giving an entire pizza to Rain and Loki, who took it upstairs, Rachel sighing heavily as they left.  
  
Though they were starting to feel better about being in such tight quarters, the Avengers turned back to the habits that had been annoying each other and when Natasha started pacing, Bruce slipped out of the room.  Rachel was still trying to get them to separate from one another and playing referee for the rest of the day.  
  
It was in the evening hours when Steve stepped outside; he knew that the backyard was still in-limits, so he didn’t tell anyone that he was leaving the house. He was surprised when he found Bruce already out there, sitting on the steps.  
  
“Oh,” Steve started, “I didn’t know anyone would be out here.”  
  
“Too crowded for you too?”  Steve laughed, “Just a little.”  
  
“Well, I’ve got enough room out here, if you want to join me.”  Steve nodded and sat next to Bruce on the stairs.  They sat in silence for a while, both of them deep in thought.  Bruce was thinking about how relaxed he had felt since he had come to this world, he knew that it was because of the Other Guy being gone and even more distressing, that it wouldn’t last.  Bruce sighed, which caused Steve to ask, “What?”  
  
“I like it here.”    
  
Steve looked over at Bruce, “Then why do you look so upset?”  
  
Bruce looked over at the Captain and smiled, “Because I know it won’t last, the happiness, the peace, the calmness.  It’s just difficult knowing that things ‘ll change, and probably not for the better,” Bruce laughed, “But you’d know all about that, wouldn’t you?”    
  
Steve chuckled, “Yeah, I do.”  Steve frowned, thinking about just how much times had changed.  
  
“You ever feel lost with all the changes?” Bruce asked.  
  
“Just about every day,” Steve sighed, “I think I have one thing figured out and then there are three more things that have changed.”    
  
Bruce laughed, “Actually, I think most people feel like that, but probably not as extreme.”  
  
“At least I have that in common with people.” Steve said with a hint of resentment.  
  
“So you _do_ have something on your mind.” Bruce said.  Steve nodded, still looking ahead.  
  
“Is it Rachel?”    
  
Steve looked over at Bruce in shock, “Yeah,” Steve paused, somewhat hesitant to go on, “I know times have changed at all, but-”  
  
“Is it just because of being raised in the nineteen thirties or because she’s half black?” Bruce asked bluntly.  Steve’s eyes widened at Bruce’s bluntness, but Steve didn’t try to deny anything.    
  
“It just wasn’t allowed for certain people to be together,” Steve said, putting his head down.  
  
“Well,” Bruce said, “Count your blessings; you don’t have to worry about that. You can do whatever the hell you want, as long as you don’t go to the southern states.”  
  
“Why not?”  Bruce laughed, “Well, they’re still…holding on to old “values” down there; Rachel told me the day we went shopping together about how they treated her, and it wasn’t good.” Steve looked over at Bruce, “What happened?”  
  
“They told her that she was an abomination, that she’s going to go to hell and she got beaten up.” Bruce said matter-of-factly.   
  
Steve shook his head, “If you can count on one thing not to change, it’s people.  There can be so many good people in the world, but there’s also so many bad.”   
  
Bruce nodded, agreeing with him, “And then there are the ones that think they are the only right ones in the world.”    
  
Steve laughed, “Aren’t those the ones that usually end up in the bad people category?”  
  
“Yeah, they usually do.” Bruce said, “But you don’t have a problem with Rae being half black?”    
  
Steve shook his head, “I never did care about someone's skin, a person is a person.”  
  
  
Bruce smiled, “And she’s a great person.”  
  
“What are you two doing out here?” Natasha asked, coming out of the back door and ignoring the sigh that came from Bruce.  
  
“We needed some air,” Steve answered for both of them.  
  
“Ah, well we were getting ready to draw to see who gets a real bed tonight, so we need you in here.”  
  
“Okay,” Steve said, standing quickly and offering a hand to Bruce, who accepted.


	8. Chapter 8

A few days later, Raina found herself up far too early, so she decided to go for a walk.  Rain quickly got dressed and then headed downstairs to start some coffee.  Once she had had her first cup, she decided that she was awake enough to go.  Raina was on her way to go get Loki when she got caught by Thor.  
  
“Good morning Raina,” he said brightly.  
  
“Hi Thor, what are you doing up so early?”  Thor shrugged.  
  
“Well, I was going to go for a walk-” she started  
  
“Would you mind if I came along?” Thor interrupted.  
  
“Um, sure.  Just let me go get my shoes and keys.”  Raina walked to her bedroom, rather upset about the fact that she was going to go walk with what she considered the wrong brother.  After she gathered her things and put on her shoes, she went back down to the waiting Thor.  
  
“Alright,” she said, “Let’s go.”  Thor silently followed her out the door and to the forested path that lay behind the house.  The pair walked in silence until Raina mentioned that she thought they should turn around.  Thor obliged and they walked for a couple more minutes in silence.  
  
“Why do you have such an interest in my brother?”  Rain was taken aback by the suddenness of the question, but she couldn’t say that the question itself was surprising.  
  
“Well,” She started, “I can kinda relate to him. He’s got issues, I’ve got issues.” Rain attempted to explain.  
  
“I believe there is more to your relationship than you are telling me. Trust me, Lady Raina, I’m happy for my brother to be getting along with you and you may tell me anything.” Thor assured her.  
  
“I had a rough time with my family, like how Loki constantly saw himself in your shadow, I found myself in my little sister’s shadow. Not that I don’t love my little sister,  I just could never seem to impress my dad no matter what I did. Eventually, I gave up trying to impress him and decided to do what makes me happy.  Even after I become well-to-do with my books he’s still not impressed. Now....I’m kinda the black sheep of the family. Thankfully, though, I found Rachel and I’ve never really looked back.” Raina explained grimly. “But,” She smiled, “I also find myself to be just as mischievous as he is.” Raina looked away and thought, ‘ _Not to mention I’m just as sadistic as he is._ ’ When Rain looked away, she noticed a petite blonde standing across the street staring intently at Thor and herself.  
  
“I do believe that you will do my brother good. He deserves to have one such as yourself to love and be loved. My main hope is that you being with him will turn him away from his evils.”  The two stopped walking as they reached the house.  
  
“Thank you, Thor, for listening to me and understanding my position. Most people immediately judge me for my outlook on life and my choices. Well, see you later Thor.” Raina nodded up at him and then went inside.  
  


* * *

  
  
Loki was sure that he had heard the door to Raina’s room open and close, signaling that Rachel had relocated downstairs, so Loki walked out of his now unguarded room and slipped into Raina’s room without knocking.  He saw that she was still asleep and on the opposite side of the bed.  Loki walked around and shook her lightly to wake her up, “Rain.”  When the girl turned over, he realized with chagrin that it wasn’t Rain, but Rachel.  
  
“She left,” Rachel responded groggily.  Loki, who had already taken a step back, started to turn towards the door.  “Then I shall let you get back to your sleep.”  
  
“Too late for that,” Rachel responded, sitting up, “Once I’m up, I’m going to stay up.”  Loki took another couple of steps towards the door.  
  
“Oh, so you can hang out with Rain all the time, but you can’t bother to make polite conversation with me after you so rudely woke me up.”  Loki stopped in his tracks; her words indicated that she was upset but her tone suggested playfulness.  He turned around to see her smiling, which assured him that she was joking.  
  
“I was not here to see you.”  There was no snideness in his voice; it was a simple but true statement.  
  
“That’s obvious,” Her tone had dropped all playfulness.  
  
“Then why would I stay to talk with you?”  
  
“For starters, you’re eating my food and sleeping in my house.  Not to mention that you’ve grown quite attached to my best friend in a short amount of time.”  Loki eyed Rachel, unsure as to whether or not she was challenging him.  “She has shown me kindness where others have not.”  Rachel could only stare at Loki.  
  
“What are you talking about?” Rachel asked with confusion.  
  
“The first night we were here, she told me that I wasn’t alone.”  
  
“You’ve never been alone.”  Loki scoffed, “If you mean that Rain has always been-”  
  
“No, I’m talking about Thor.”  Loki’s eyes narrowed.  “You know not of what you speak.” He said in a low voice.  
  
“I know that you found out you were adopted and you reacted badly, and gave no one, save your ‘father’ a chance to comfort you.”  Loki took a couple menacing steps towards Rachel.    
  
“Thor will never not see you as his brother and he’ll always love you,” she continued, ignoring the obvious glare that Loki was sending her way.  
  
“Oh, so you think that you can say a few words and fix me?  Fix my perception of the world like you did with the others?”  Rachel moved towards the edge of the bed, clearly unwilling to back down, “You tell me.”  
  
“No.”  Loki turned back towards the door.    
  
“You’re such a child.”  He froze in his tracks.    
  
“What did you say?”    
  
Rachel stood up and walked towards him, “When Rain tells you that you’re not alone, she’s fantastic, but when I tell an Avenger that they’re not alone, I’m weaving tales.  Do you not see how hypocritical that is?”  Loki looked at this woman, a full six inches shorter than he.  She was not afraid and he thought he could admire her for that, but he wasn’t going to admit that she was right.  
  
“Just because you believe it, doesn’t make it so.”  
  
“You remember that yourself Loki,” Rachel said as she walked around him to the door, “And just so you’re aware, there are people other than Rain who care about you.”  
  
“You mean Thor, my false brother.”  Rachel rolled her eyes and laughed at him.  “Rain’s my sister,” she said, pausing when Loki’s face turned to one of shock, “She’s not blood related, but you better believe me when I say that I’d die for her.  Blood relations don’t matter Loki.  And if you could get over that, you’d see that there are plenty of people who could be there for you, including me.”  With that, Rachel opened wide the door, “Nice talk.”  Loki made to take a step until he saw Steve standing frozen at the doorway with his hand raised to knock.  Rachel looked up and once she saw Steve, she smiled brightly at him.  
  
“Good morning.”  Steve smiled an awkward looking smile and said, “I just wanted to tell you that Clint is making breakfast, and that it’s almost done.”  
  
“Oh okay,  I’ll be down in a few.”  Rachel half pushed Loki out of the room which caused Steve to take a few steps back to avoid getting hit.    
  
“Now if you two gentlemen don’t mind, I’ll be getting ready,” and with that, she shut the door sharply.  
  
Steve glanced at Loki, who was feeling something akin to surprise with the way he was treated by the young woman.  “What’d you do?”  Steve asked.  

Loki looked over to Steve, “Nothing.”


	9. Chapter 9

Later that day all the guys were sitting around playing cards, or trying to at least; they were doing their best trying to get Thor to understand how to play. Loki was still refusing to come out of his room. Natasha, Rachel and Rain had ventured upstairs and were just chatting.  
  
“I’m not really that into fighting. Though, Raina’s been trying to teach me since my ex keeps popping up.”  
  
“Your ex?” Natasha questioned.  
  
“My psychotic ex-boyfriend. Every time he comes around, he tries to get back with me.”  
  
“And he has no idea how to take ‘no’ for an answer.” Raina cut in.  
  
“Oh...Well, I hope he doesn’t come around here anytime soon.” Natasha said, trying to change the mood to a lighter one. “So what about you Rain? How good is your fighting?”  
  
“I’m a beast!” Raina announced proudly.  
  
“Know any good moves?” Natasha asked the younger girl.  
  
“I mostly throw knives and use my bow staff. Other than that I usually just thrash about uncontrollably.”  
  
“How bout I teach you some hand to hand?”  
  
“You serious?!” Raina squealed in delight, “Imagine, THE Black Widow teaching me how to fight!” Raina was beyond happy at this point.  
  
“Watch out Rain, your fangirl is showing.” Rachel started laughing.  
  
“How about we go practice right now?” Natasha suggested.  
  
“That would be freaking awesome bro!” Before anyone could say anymore Raina was up and running outside, cackling madly as she ran down the hallway, gaining a look from Loki as he opened his door to see what all the commotion was about. The Avengers stopped playing cards and watched her run by in confusion.  
  
“Okay, so I’m going to come at you, try your best to defend yourself.” Natasha told Raina once the women were assembled outside. Natasha started to lunge at Rain, who shot her arms out in a counter attack. “That’s good, but you’re form is very raw, which is typical for you since you don’t have any formal training.” Natasha told Rain before turning to look towards Rachel, “You sure you don’t want to practice with us Rachel?”  
  
“Yeah, I’m good. I’d rather not have to fight with Rain; she has no idea what the definition of ‘self-control’ is. Besides, I’m just here to monitor Rain, you know, to make sure you don’t get hurt Natasha.” Rachel said from the steps.  
  
“Please, I know what self-control is.” Raina shot back.  
  
“Yes, I’m sure you do. In fact, you’ve been showing a great deal of self-control since we’ve gotten our new housemates.” Raina immediately realized that Rachel was referring to Loki and turned a bright red.  
  
“I regret nothing!” Raina yelled as she charged Natasha for another attack. The two continuously threw and dodged punches, “So, you were an outlaw before S.H.I.E.L.D. right?” Raina asked Natasha in between punches.  
  
“Growing up in Russia was tough, especially being an orphan. Eventually, some Russian secret agents found me and thought I would make a perfect agent-in-training. From then on I became a deadly assassin. Then after a while I went freelance, next thing I know S.H.I.E.L.D. is sending Clint to stop me and, well, I decided to join them.” By now the two women had stopped their fighting and had their hands on their knees, panting heavily.  
  
“That...was...awesome!” Raina shouted.  
  
“You’re pretty good kid. You could make a decent agent.” Natasha patted Raina on the shoulder.  
  
“Thanks, that, that really means a lot.”  
  
“Well, now that you two are done, you should probably take a shower.” Rachel told the two as she looked Natasha and Raina over.  
  
“Yeah.” They both said together.  
  


* * *

  
  
Later that night, Rachel opened the door to Rain’s room covering her eyes and saying, “Are you decent?”  
  
“Generally, no.  But I’m making an exception for you.”  Rachel uncovered her eyes, “So, I was thinking that we should have a talk.”  
  
Raina looked confused and somewhat nervous, “Okay, what about? Wait, have you seen that blonde chick hanging around on the street this week?”  
  
Rachel closed the door, walked over to the bed and sat down, “Actually, yeah, Bruce practically ran into her the other day.”  
  
Raina frowned, “That’s weird, do you think she just moved here?”  
  
Rachel shrugged, “No idea.”  
  
“Anyway, what did you want to talk about?”  
  
“The Avengers,” Rae sighed, “and Loki.” she added.  
  
Raina turned to face Rachel in the bed, “Let’s hear it.”  
  
“What if they can’t leave?”  
  
“Rae, I honestly don’t believe that is a possibility.”  
  
Rachel cocked her head, “Why?”  
  
“You know, for such a smart person, you can be such a dumbass sometimes.”    
  
Rachel scoffed, “Then explain it to me.”  
  
Rain gave Rachel a truly patronizing look, “They can’t stay here, it’ll probably screw up some space-time thing.”  Rachel laughed, “You know, if you had watched that Doctor Who marathon with me, you’d be able to explain it to me better.”  
  
“I’m sure I could.  But, I mean, someone’s going to notice them missing eventually, and then they’ll be brought back.  If it’s not S.H.I.E.L.D., then Odin’s probably expecting Thor back with Loki, and when they don’t return, he’s going to go looking for his sons.”  Rachel could see the saddened look on her friend’s face.  
  
“But you don’t want him to go.”  Raina looked up and met Rachel’s eyes.  
  
“No, I don’t.”  Rachel pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them closer with her arms, “Would you go with him?”  
  
“I don’t know,” Rain answered honestly.  
  
“Oh,” Rachel said, moving so that she was laying down on her side.  Rain moved so that she was hugging Rae.  
  
“I love you though; you are and have always been my best friend.”  Raina pulled away so that she could look Rachel in the eyes, “You know that right?”  
  
Rae nodded, “Yeah.”  
  
“But,” Raina starting, bringing it back to the original topic, “If they do stay in this version of reality, then I say that they can stay.  We can build an extension to the house, add five more bedrooms,” Rain said, smiling at the idea, “or four, if you want to bunk with Cap.”    
  
Rachel rolled her eyes and laughed, “Alright, if they’re here for more than three months, we’ll consider adding the extra bedrooms.”  
  
“Yay!” Rain squealed.  
  
“Now go to bed before you get too excited.”  
  
Rain smiled, “I’m always excited.”


	10. Chapter 10

Loki cringed as the sunlight came through the windows, signaling that a new day was here. He started to rise from the bed when something heaving pushing down on his chest stopped him. His first thought was Mjolnir, but as he looked down he saw otherwise. On his chest lay a fast asleep Rain. At first he thought he should wake her up, but he was not sure what kind of a morning person she was and feared what wrath she would incur. Gently, Loki tried to move her off of him and onto the bed when suddenly, her eyes started fluttering open.  
  
“Rain, what are you doing back in here?”  
  
“You smell good.” Came Rain’s muttered response as she sat up, rubbing her eyes sleepily. Loki gave her a weird look.  
  
“Well,” Rain started, as she stretched, “I’m going to get more sleep, see ya later.” And she was gone again. As Rain opened her bedroom door she was startled but an upset looking Rachel.  
  
“Where were you?” Rachel questioned as Rain walked in, closing the door behind her.  
  
“Sleeping.” Rain said plainly as she lay down on the bed, pulling the covers up around her.  
  
“Oh really? Looks like to me you didn’t get that much sleep.”  
  
“It’s still early, haven’t gotten my eighteen hours in.” Came Rain’s reply from under the sheets.  
  
“Rain...”  
  
“I was with Loki okay, ya happy now?” Rain finally admitted.  
  
“You are going to scar him and the rest of the Avengers for life, I swear.”  
  
“Eh, I do what I want.” Rain sang. Rachel rolled her eyes as she left the room to go downstairs. Downstairs the Avengers were just waking up.  
  
“Okay people, we need to go grocery shopping.” Rachel announced.  The Avengers groaned, thinking that they were going to have to be left alone with Raina.  “Okay,” Tony started, “But you should take someone else, we all deserve a chance to get out.”  
  
Rachel thought about it for a minute, “Yeah, you’re right, you all need to stretch your legs.  How about Clint?”  Clint jumped up and pumped his fist into the air, “Yes!”    
  
“So you need to go wake up Raina.”  
  
“Why?” Clint asked, his fist still in the air.    
  
“Because she gets the groceries.”  Clint’s face turned to one of horror, “I have to go shopping with her?”  Rachel smirked at him, “She can be mature when she wants to.  And I thought you were excited to get out of the house.”  
  
“Yeah, because I thought I was going with you, not with crazy.”  Rachel laughed, “No, she’s really good with shopping for food, just make sure she gets everything on the list.  And don’t let her buy too much alcohol. Oh, and limit the sugary items, for every ten she picks out, let her get one.”  
  
Clint’s eyes were widened; he looked overloaded with the fact that he was going to have to babysit as he went shopping.  
  
“Isn’t she still asleep though?” Natasha asked.  
  
“Yep,” Rachel responded, smiling deviously.  
  
“I think that since Clint is going with her grocery shopping that he should be the one to wake up Raina.” Tony spoke up.  
  
“Yeah, Clint.” Natasha added.  
  
“What? No! I already have to go shopping with her, you do it Tasha.” Clint shot back.  
  
“Too bad, you’re gonna anyway.” Tony told him. Clint glared at the group before finally walking off.  
  
“Remember, if anything bad happens, this is all on you.” He pointed angrily at them.  
  
As Clint got to Rain’s door he raised his fisted hand to knock on the door, hesitating for a few moments, unsure if he should do it or not. Finally, he started knocking, “Raina?” No response. “Raina, you awake?” After a few more seconds of silence he opened the door. Seeing Raina’s unmoving, still asleep body on the bed he started walking towards it. Pulling back the covers he found not Raina, but a stack of pillows. “What?” Before he could say anything else there was a scream, like a battle cry, and Clint found himself being tackled from behind. Raina had jumped onto his back.  
  
“You’ll never take me alive!” She yelled into his ear.  
  
“What are you doing, get off of me!” He yelled back as he tried to pull her off of him.  
  
“I don’t wanna go back to school mommy!” Clint finally managed to grab ahold of Rain’s hands, wrenching her free from his neck, and dropped her onto her bed. “Rachel said you and me are going grocery shopping today, so get ready.” He told her then left. Walking back downstairs he looked at the group and announced, “I think she’s awake.” Rachel could not hold back her laughter any longer.  
  
“You look like you just got hit by a tornado!” She went on to say in between her spouts of laughter.  
  
“Yeah, thanks for that.” Clint told her, then went to one of the spare bathrooms to fix up his hair.  
  
Upstairs Rain was feeling fairly proud of herself. As she started to fix up the destruction she had caused, Loki waltzed into the room. “Might I ask just what all that commotion was about?” He inquired as he looked around at the mess.  
  
“Clint came up here to wake me up, I thought I would surprise him.” Raina told him as she started to look through her closet for something to wear.  
  
“So, where might you be going?”  
  
“Well, apparently Rachel has decreed that Clint and I will be doing some grocery shopping today.”  
  
“You are going out, alone, with him?”  
  
“Is that a hint of jealousy I hear from you Loki?” Raina teased.  
  
“Perhaps, or perhaps I just don’t trust him with you.”  
  
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’m pretty sure he’s scared shitless for the moment, especially after my little stunt. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must take a shower. Out.” Raina told him, pointed towards the door.  
  
“Until later then.” He started chuckling then left.

* * *

  
  
“Remember Rain, behave.” Rachel told the younger girl.  
  
“Yeah yeah.” Rain called back as she and Clint walked out the door. “Oh!” Raina grabbed one of her fedoras off of the hat rack at the door then jumped back outside, closing the door behind her.  
  
“Here, wear this.” She told Clint. He took the hat from hands and put it on. Raina gave him a thumbs up and they both started to walk to the grocery store.


	11. Chapter 11

“Let’s stop here real quick, we need some breakfast.” Raina suggested as they passed a coffee shop.  
  
“Yeah, sounds good.” They got a couple of pastries, eating them as they continued to walk to the store.  
  
“Ok,” Clint started as the two walked through the automatic doors of the local grocery store, “Rachel told me to make sure that you don’t go too crazy, especially with getting the alcohol, and to make sure you don’t get too many sweets.”  
  
“Yeah, yeah, the usual deal. Don’t worry, I got this.” Raina assured him as she grabbed one of the buggies.  
  
“So,” Clint attempted to start conversation.  
  
“So.” Raina returned.  
  
“Why are you so crazy?” He finally asked.  
  
“Life is too short to be normal. I like to shake things up. Plus I always seem to have way too much energy than I need, have to get rid of it” She explained.  
  
“You have a point, but I think you take it a little too far sometimes.”  
  
“Ha! Nope. You can never take it too far.” Raina noticed a couple people in the aisle starting to stare at them, including the blonde woman in green that she had seen during the walk in the woods she had with Thor, and moved to another the next aisle.  
  
“So do you really do fireworks in the house?” He asked, grabbing a few items off of the shelves.  
  
“Yep, just ask Steve, I threw some pops in the hallway the other night when I saw him walking by; scared the shit out of him too.” Raina admitted proudly as she began to laugh. “Usually it’s just a bit worse, mostly smoke bombs if it’s inside of the house; I light up the bigger ones outside.”  
  
“That’s uh, that’s lovely.” Clint gave her an odd look.  
  
“I know right!” She exclaimed. “So, you were in the circus right?”  
  
“How did you - oh right, big fan. Yeah, after my parents were killed in a car crash I ran away. That’s where I discovered my talent for marksmanship. I thought I could try out the superhero business, unfortunately I ended up accused of theft and got locked up. That’s where S.H.I.E.L.D. found me. The rest, well, you know.”  
  
“The circus huh? That’s so cool! I’ve always found the circus to have a sort of mysticism, you know? Do you ever miss it?”  
  
“Sometimes, the circus life is one with a family bond. Everyone looks out for each other.”  
  
“Cus when it all comes to it isn’t that all that matters? To have a family that you love and they love you?”  
  
“Yeah, the Avengers are my family now. That was another life.” Clint had a look of knowing about it, as if he was just realizing the fact for the first time.  
  
They continued on with their shopping. With an almost full buggy they finally arrived at the alcohol.  
  
“Ah, my favourite part of the store!” Raina exclaimed as she held up her arms as if going to hug someone much taller than herself. “Friends, I have missed you!” Clint went to look at all the different brands as Raina put more than a few bottles and cans into the buggy. “I almost forgot! Clint, “ She called, “go get some cereal will ya?”  
  
“Sure.”  
  
“I’ll be there in a bit. Don’t bring attention to yourself.” As he started to walk off Raina turned her attention back to the alcohol. Seeing a bottle of wine called ‘Trickster’ Raina smiled to herself, thinking of Loki and grabbed one. Looking into the buggy at all the alcohol she nodded to herself and began to make her way to the cereals. Going into the aisle she found Clint standing smack dab in the middle, looking up and down the vast amounts of cereal, still unable to decide what to get.  
  
“Really Clint, really?” She asked walking up to him.  
  
“You try making up your mind.” He shot back.  
  
“Oh, I will.” And with that Raina grabbed five different boxes and threw them into the buggy.  They went up to the checkout counter and after another ten minutes were walking out of the store and hailing a cab. Once they got home Raina paid the cab driver while Clint unloaded the groceries that were thankfully in boxes which made them much easier to carry. Raina turned and started to pick up a couple boxes as the cab drove away.  
  
“I have to say Raina, you’re not as bad as you seem.”  
  
“Thanks man, I appreciate it. Oh, and uh, sorry about this morning, it’s a habit”.  
  
“Don’t worry about, just don’t do it again.”  
  
“I make no promises.”  
  


* * *

  
  
As soon as Rain and Clint left, Rachel clapped her hands together, “Alright, what are we going to do today?”  The rest of the group looked at her, Tony, Bruce and Natasha shrugged while Thor and Steve responded, “I don’t know.”  Rachel nodded, “Well, I’m the lazy babysitter, so, let’s watch TV,” starting to sit down on the sofa.  
  
“After breakfast?” Thor asked.  Rachel popped back up.  “Yep, after breakfast.”  She walked into the kitchen and got out the ingredients to make pancakes.  Rachel mixed up the batter as the Avengers sat around in the living room arguing over what to watch.  Tony, who had the remote, had turned the television to show a news channel.  “Tony,” Bruce whined, “Can’t we watch something else?”  
  
“No,” Tony started, “We should see what’s going on in this world.  We might be stuck in it.”  The mood in the room suddenly changed to seriousness.  “I know you guys don’t want to think about it, but it’s been almost a week and we’ve heard nothing from Amora.  We might be stuck here for good,” Tony commented.  The rest of the group had their heads down; it was clear that they had all been trying not to think about the situation they were in, or the permanency of it.    
  
“I’m not trying to be a dick guys, but-” Tony was cut off by Bruce raising his hand, “No, you’re right.  It’s a real possibility.  If this lasts much longer, we should all think about contributing to the household.  And considering how long we’ll stay here.”  The room was silent for a couple of minutes while they all considered what they wanted to do.  
  
“I agree that if we reach the three week mark, then we should try to become part of this world.”  Tony said.  
  
“But what will we do?”  Natasha asked, “It’s not like we have any real or marketable skills here.”  
  
“Yes we do,” Steve finally spoke, “Our knowledge hasn’t changed.  We can pursue jobs like the ones we used to have.”  Natasha sighed, “It’s not that easy Steve, I know you’ve been asleep for seventy years, but you’ve seen how things have changed in the world.”  
  
“We should help our hosts,” Thor said with finality in his tone, “No matter the obstacles.”  Steve looked over to Thor and smiled half-heartedly.  
  
“Fine, fine, but where do we live?  We’ll just go our separate ways?  What if sometime down the road one of us finds a way back?  What do we-”    
  
“Natasha,” Bruce started, cutting her off, “Do you have to focus on the negative?”    
  
“Tony’s the one that said we should consider all of this!” She cried, her voice rising. “Calm down,” Bruce said.  Natasha glared at him.  
  
“I think we should stay together.”  Thor said after a moment.  They all looked at him.    
  
“Yeah,” Steve agreed, “If we do ever get a chance to go back, then we should stay close so that no one gets left behind.” Natasha sighed and Steve put a hand on her shoulder.  “I know.”  
  
“Hey guys! I hope you’re in the mood for-” Rachel stopped dead in her tracks, “I’m interrupting something aren’t I?”  Tony stood up quickly and said, “No, we were just finishing our conversation.”  Rachel still looked unsure so Bruce said, “What were you hoping we were in the mood for?”  Rachel shook her head, “Oh, pancakes.  The last one’s cooking now.  I thought we could all eat together in the dining room today.”    
  
The group agreed and followed Rachel into the dining room.  She had already set out plates, silverware and glasses for everyone; there was also a spread of eggs, and toast with butter and different jams, jellies and syrups.  
  
“Wow,” Bruce said, “Why didn’t you ask for a hand, we would’ve been more than willing to help.”  
  
“It’s cool.”  Rachel said, waving a hand, “Where’s Loki?”  
  
“I believe he is still in his quarters,” Thor said.  
  
“Yeah, he’s used to Raina bringing his food to him,” Natasha said.  Rachel’s left eyebrow rose, and they all took a step back.  
  
“Well, we’ll have to fix that,” Rachel said, clearly unhappy, “Could someone take that last pancake off the stove and bring the plate in here?  You guys could go ahead and eat.”  
  
“I’ll do it,” Tony volunteered.  
  
“Great,” Rachel said, turning on her heels and walking sharply out of the room.  The Avengers exchanged glances then Tony went to grab the pancakes.  
  
Rachel walked up the stairs to Loki’s room and knocked thrice, she only had to wait half a minute before Loki, smirking, opened the door in nothing but a towel.  “Back already my dear?” Loki questioned in a smooth voice.  His smile fell once he realized that it wasn’t an eager Raina but an angry-looking Rachel.  She once again raised her left eyebrow.  “Oh,” Loki started, “Rachel, I thought you were-”  
  
“Obviously you thought I was Raina.” She said, cutting him off, “Why aren’t you wearing any of the clothes that I spent hard earned money on?”  
  
“I-um- I had just gotten out of the shower,” Loki stuttered.  
  
“And you thought it was beneath you to answer the door without getting dressed first?”  She questioned.  
  
“Ah, yes, hold on.”  Loki quickly shut the door and threw on the closest shirt and pair of pants.  Unfortunately for Loki, the shirt he grabbed was the one he took from Rain.  He walked back to the door and opened it to Rachel.  
  
“My apologies,” Loki started.  
  
“Is that Rain’s shirt?”  Rachel questioned, “What else of hers do you have in there?”  
  
“Nothing.  What did you want?”  Loki said, trying to divert her anger.    
  
“Breakfast is ready.”  
  
“Okay, I’ll go get it and-”  
  
“You’re going to eat with the rest of us and be civil,” Rachel said, crossing her arms.  
  
“I’d rather not.”  Rachel’s mouth turned into a thin line before she spoke, “It’s not an option.  You’re coming down and eating with us, now that you’re dressed.”  Loki’s eyebrows contorted.  “Who do you think you are, mortal?”  
  
“The owner of the house,” Rachel said, reaching down and grabbing Loki’s wrist.  “This isn’t a request,” she said, yanking him towards her and out of the room.  Once Loki had made it passed the threshold of the room, Rachel used her right hand to shut the door sharply.  
  
“Come on and be social.  It’s your fault that they were your enemies.”  She pulled Loki all the way down the hall and down the stairs.  Once they were at the dining room, Rachel released his wrist and as she stood on her tiptoes, she whispered in his ear, “Be nice.”  They walked into the room together and sat down.  Due to the Avenger’s previous conversation, and Rachel and Loki’s moods, the meal was completely silent, each person thinking their own unpleasant thoughts.


	12. Chapter 12

Once Rachel thought that everyone had finished, she said, “You know, you guys don’t have to stay with me, you all can leave whenever you’re done.”  Loki was the first one to rise, practically running out of the room to get back upstairs.  Rachel rolled her eyes at his behaviour, “What a child.”  The rest of the Avengers looked at Rachel.  “What?” she questioned.  They all looked away. “You manhandled and then chastised a god,” Bruce finally said.  To their surprise, Rachel laughed, “I didn’t look at it that way, but yeah, I guess I did.”  
  
“It’s a pretty incredible feat seeing as the last person to do that was The Hulk,” Tony said.  Rachel smiled and waved a hand at him, “Stop it, you’re making me blush,” she joked.  Everyone at the table chuckled.  Eventually everyone else left the table one by one, leaving Rachel to finish eating in peace.  Once she finished, she started collecting the dirty dishes and putting the condiments back.  Rachel was gathering the plates and putting them in the dishwasher after she had washed them off when Steve came into the room.    
  
“Need any help?”  He asked.  Rachel jumped, “Oh my God, where did you come from?”  Steve’s brows furrowed in confusion, “The living room.”  Rachel smiled, “That was rhetorical.”  
  
“My question wasn’t,” Steve prompted.    
  
“Oh, no, I’m good.”  
  
“Are you sure?”  She laughed, “If you’re so determined to help, you can rinse the pans.”  Steve smiled, “Okay.”  Rachel closed the dishwasher up and turned it on.  She moved in front of the sink and started running water.  Rachel turned to face Steve, leaning against the counter.  “So, what was that conversation about this morning?” Steve’s face changed to show an emotion that Rae couldn’t place.    
  
“Oh, well,” Steve paused, wondering how to phrase the answer.  Rachel smiled, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, I mean, it’s none of my business.”  
  
Steve smiled back gratefully at her as he walked over to the other sink.  “You wanna tell me what’s going on with you and Loki?”    
  
Rachel shifted uncomfortably and turned around to move to the spout to the other sink.  “Nothing’s ‘going on’ per se.”  She started washing one of the pans.  Steve watched her, “You don’t act like that for nothing.”  Steve commented.  
  
Rachel sighed as she dropped the newly cleaned pan into Steve’s sink and shut off the water, “I just don’t like how attached he and Rain are to one another.”  
  
“Because it’s just been the pair of you?”  Rachel looked up at Steve, “It’s just going to hurt her when she can’t go with him.”    
  
Steve smiled sadly at Rae, this was something he could relate to, “But she’ll always have the memories.”  Rachel shook her head a little more violently than necessary and looked back at the sink, “What happens when the memories aren’t enough, because you and I both know that they won’t.”  
  
Steve couldn’t agree more, but wondered what all had happened in her life.  “Are you sure that’s it?”  Rachel looked back up at Steve, meeting his eyes.  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“What if she decides to go with him?  You’re afraid that you’ll be the one left behind, with nothing but faded pictures.”  Rachel’s eyes dropped back down to the sink and she picked up the other pan to wash, after she deemed it clean, she put it in Steve’s sink.  He quickly rinsed both pans off and placed them onto the dish drainer.  Rachel washed the final item, a bowl, and put it into Steve’s sink.  Rachel pulled the stopper from the bottom of the sink, and once Steve had finished rinsing off the bowl, she pulled the stopper from that sink as well.    
  
Rachel picked up a nearby towel and dried her hands off.  Handing Steve the towel, she finally responded quietly, “Yeah.”  Steve finished drying off his hands, put the towel down and enveloped Rachel in a hug, which after a moment of hesitation, she returned.  When they pulled apart, she smiled at him, “Thanks Steve.”  
  
“Anytime.”  
  


* * *

  
  
Raina kicked the bottom of the door with her foot, her ‘no hands’ way of knocking. The door opened to reveal Tony, “Oh good, Clint’s still alive guys!” He yelled into the house, opening the door wider.  
  
“Yeah, thanks for that.” Raina shot back at Tony, rolling her eyes. “Get this for me will ya.” Raina told him, handing over the groceries she was carrying, “Put these up in the kitchen, Rae will show you two where stuff goes.”  
  
“What, no-” Tony tried to argue as Raina started to walk away. “Oh, I almost forgot.” Turning around, she grabbed a bottle out of the groceries. “Thanks bros!” Raina shouted as she skipped off to Loki’s room.  
  
“Loki! I come bringing gifts of enjoyment!” Rain sang, opening his door. She found him lying on the bed staring up at the ceiling. “Someone’s had a bad day it seems.” Raina stated plainly, placing bottle of wine on the night stand.  
  
“And it appears someone’s had a wonderful day.” Loki muttered. Raina lay down on the bed next to him, placing her head on his chest. Loki moved his arm around her, pulling Raina closer.  
  
“Your dear friend decided to have me join everyone at breakfast. It was...very unpleasant.” He explained.  
  
“What happened?” She turned her head upward to look at him.  
  
“Nothing really, no one spoke the whole time, they merely just watched, or in my case glared, at each other.”  
  
“Have you and Rachel been fighting?” When Loki didn’t answer she went on. “Don’t worry about her, Rae will warm up to you eventually.....well, maybe.”  
  
“So, have you thought more on what I asked?” Loki changed the subject. Raina sighed.  
  
“I...honestly, I really do want to go, but I don’t want to leave Rachel and knowing her she’ll want to stay.”  
  
“Seeing as how your friend seems to be taken by the super soldier I’m surprised she isn’t jumping at the chance to be with him.” They lay in silence for a few moments. “So, what is this ‘gift’ you have brought me?” Raina sat up and grabbed the bottle off of the table.  
  
“Trickster.” Loki read, “Really now?” Raina giggled.  
  
“I thought you might appreciate it.” She said, taking the bottle and opening it. “Cheers.” Raina took a drink. “Minty.” she said as she handed it to Loki.  
  
“Cheers.” He returned as he took a drink for himself.


	13. Chapter 13

The Avengers and Rachel were sitting in the entertainment watching some movie that Tony had insisted Steve needed to see, when the music that had been playing upstairs became slightly louder.  “That’s it!” Rachel exclaimed standing up.  She was crossing the room when they all heard stomping on the stairs.  
  
“What the _hell_ are they doing?”  Tony asked in annoyance.  Rachel, who was now standing in the doorway, could now see the stairs that led upstairs rolled her eyes when she could see Loki and Raina.  Rachel sighed loudly, “How drunk is she?”  Rae called to Loki.  
  
“A good deal,” Loki grimaced, clearly concerned about Rachel’s reaction, “But she wanted to come down here and see you and I thought it best for me to accompany her; I don’t want to see her break her neck.”  Rachel looked and saw that Loki was, in fact, holding Raina’s upper arm to steady her as they walked down the rest of the stairs.  Rachel walked to the bottom of the stairs to meet them and Raina jumped forward and gripped Rachel in a tight hug, her face practically smothered by Rachel’ breasts.  
  
“Rain, what the hell, get off! Your lesbian is showing!” Rachel whined as she tried to get Raina off of her.  
  
“Rae! What have you been up to?  Where have you been?  Hey look, it’s The Hulk!”  She said, pointing over Rachel’s shoulder.  Bruce had gotten up and followed Rachel to see what was going on and was standing in the doorway, frowning at the fact that he had been called ‘The Hulk.”  Rachel half turned towards Bruce and smiled apologetically, then turned back to Raina, “How about we get some food in you?  Pasta sound good?”  Raina giggled, “I am hungry, now that you mention it.”  
  
“Okay,” Rachel twisted out of Rain’s tight grip, “Loki, take her into the kitchen and set her at the table,” Loki started moving Raina in the direction of the kitchen, “And don’t let her near anything sharp,” Rachel added as an afterthought.  She turned back towards the group, who had now gathered in the doorway, “It’s cool, she’s just drunk.”  
  
“Raina has an inner lesbian?” Clint asked.  
  
“She’s actually just bi but when she drinks white wine she has a tendency to lean more towards that side. She’s harmless, really.” Rachel explained.  
  
  
“That’s uh...” Natasha started.  
  
“Hot.” Tony blurted out. The rest of the Avengers quickly turned to look at him. Steve’s face had turned red and Thor was not entirely sure what they were talking about. Rachel rolled her eyes and placed a hand on her face.  
  
“I’m guessing you don’t let her drink white wine often?” Bruce stated.  
  
“Not when I’m around. Well, anyway, I’m going to make pasta for dinner, is anyone allergic to garlic?”  After hearing a no from everyone, Rachel turned and went into the kitchen, where Loki was sitting with Raina.  Rae immediately got out some bread and put it in the toaster.  
  
“I am sorry; I did not realize that she would react this way.”  
  
Rachel sighed, “How about you go spend time with your brother and his friends?”  Loki looked scandalized by the question.  Raina giggled, “He doesn’t like your suggestion Rae, maybe he can just head back to his room.”  Rachel gave both of them a stern look, “It wasn’t a suggestion.”  Loki nodded and walked into the entertainment room, where the Avengers were in a tight circle, they all looked up when he entered.  
  
“Brother!” Greeted Thor, “Come join us!  We have much to discuss.”  Loki walked over to a chair nearby and sank into it.  “What is there to discuss?” He asked in a bored voice, though he was genuinely interested in what they were talking about.  
  
“Well, before you came in,” Natasha started, “We were telling Barton about our plans, were we not to be found and taken back to our own reality.”  
  
Loki raised his eyebrows, “And those were?”  
  
“If we make it to the three week mark and we have not yet seen Amora, or anyone else from our reality,” Thor said, “Then we are to go out and get jobs.”  Loki tried to hide the amusement that he felt, how could they honestly believe that they weren’t going to get back?  
  
“And if it progresses further,” Bruce said, “We’ve decided that we’re going to find a place, together.”  Loki’s heart stopped, they were trying to separate him from Rain.  
  
“I highly doubt that we’ll even be here that long.”  Loki said as he attempted a superior tone though he was aware of how hollow his voice sounded.  
  
“These are alternative plans,” Tony said, “Just in case we can’t get back for a while.”  
  
“Well why worry about it beforehand?” Loki snapped, “Besides, shouldn’t we stay close by the spot we were taken from?”  
  
“You only want to stay here,” Clint stated, “Because of Raina.”  
  
“Rain.” Loki corrected, he didn’t bother denying what they all knew to be the truth.  Loki shot a glance over to Steve, “What say you?”  
  
Steve knew why Loki glanced at him, “I agree.  With everything.”  Steve knew, honestly, that he couldn’t stay with Rachel forever, no matter how interested he was.  In fact, the one thing that Steve’s life had taught him was that nothing would remain the same.  Loki’s mouth dropped open, he felt as though he had entirely overestimated the depth of feeling between the Captain and Rachel.  
  
“Do I not have a say in this?” He asked, hoping that at least Thor would come to his defense.  The Avengers looked at each other, seemingly considering Loki’s request when they heard a crash in the kitchen, followed by a “Damn it Raina!”  
  
Everyone got up from where they were and headed into the kitchen cautiously; they knew that a sober Raina could be pretty out there; they had no idea what a drunken Raina was going to do.  When they got into the room, they saw Rain sitting on the floor eating toast and Rachel standing in front of the dishwasher with part of her tee shirt locked in it.  Rachel was still glaring at Raina, which meant that her back was to the doorway.    
  
“This was my favorite shirt!”  Rachel cried, “Why couldn’t you have just stuck my phone in there like last time?”  
  
“Because you told me never to do it again.”  Rachel sighed and started to finagle her way out of her shirt.  
  
“Hey guys!  What are you doing?”  Raina asked.  Rachel turned around with her shirt half off.  “Don’t let her get near you around the dishwasher.”  She finished slipping her shirt off, sending Steve an apologetic smile, seeing as he had turned red as a tomato.  “Make sure she stays there,” Rachel said as she walked past them and headed upstairs.    
  
“Uhh...” Tony started as he watched Rachel walk past him. “Shut it.” Rachel told him as he eyed her dark blue bra; Tony shut his mouth.  
  
Loki walked over and sat next to Rain on the floor.  Natasha went over next to them where there was a pot of spaghetti boiling.  “Can you move her? This needs to be drained.”  Loki pulled Raina up and stood over next to the table, out of the way.  Clint went over to the strainer and put it in the sink while everyone else sat down.  “Thanks,” Natasha said, which was echoed by Rae, who had come back downstairs in a new shirt.  
  
After making sure that Raina was restrained for the duration of the cooking of the meal, the Avengers found themselves in the dining room with spaghetti, garlic bread, and wine, which Raina wasn’t allowed until she showed signs of soberness.


	14. Chapter 14

“Just one dri-”

“No.” Rachel interrupted Raina.

“I’ll sit here quietly.”

“I’m pretty sure that ‘quietly’ isn’t even in your dictionary, besides you’re still drunk.” Rachel told her as she took another bite of spaghetti. Raina growled, jabbing her plastic fork into her spaghetti. The group sat in silence for a while; that is, until Loki jumped suddenly, letting out a small yelp and almost knocking over his drink. Raina began snickering as she moved her hand back from Loki’s leg. Rachel glared over at her and Raina stopped. Next was Tony who yelped as Raina stabbed his leg with her plastic knife only to start another laughing fit.

“Raina, up now!” Rachel said loudly as she stood from the table. She went around the side of the table and pulled Raina up from the chair, pushing her towards the stairs as she grabbed Raina’s plate. “You are way too dangerous to be around anyone else so you are eating in your room!”

“Can I watch Charlie the Unicorn?”

“Sure Rain, sure.” Minutes later Rachel returned downstairs. “Who wants more wine?” She said holding up a bottle. No one seemed to notice Loki swiftly leaving the room.

+~*~+

“So this one time, um, Raina snuck into the principal’s office and set up a bunch of firecrackers all around the room, and she had like this mile long fuse that ended outside of campus. She lit it and drove home in the middle of the school day. To this day they have yet to figure out who did it!” Rachel started laughing, hers and Steve’s faces inches away; she was practically sitting on his lap. Tony was off to the side dancing by himself to some music that Raina had put on. Bruce was nodding as Natasha stumbled over her words. He was the only one who remained sober. Clint and Thor were arm wrestling.

Upstairs, however, was another story. “One more sip!” Raina yelled at Loki who was holding the bottle of wine above her head; with her 5’4” stature compared to his 6’02” was a fairly easy task. “Loki!” Raina whined as she puffed out her lip in a pout. Loki backed up as Raina made another jump for the bottle. In one swift movement Raina placed one of her hands on Loki’s shoulder and made another jump, using the hand on Loki’s shoulder to further push her upwards. Loki tried to back up further but was stopped by Raina’s bed. Loki’s attempt to move back alongside Raina’s jumping caused the two to fall back onto the bed, Raina straddling his waist.

“Victory!” Rain exclaimed as she grabbed the bottle from his hand and promptly went to drinking it. “Your turn Loki!”

“No Rain, someone has to be sober enough to watch you.” Loki told her as he tried to keep the bottle away from his own mouth.

“Just one?” Raina tried again with a pout on her face, pushing the bottle further towards his mouth.

“Rain-”

“Don’t you want to see what happens if we’re both drunk off our asses?” Loki was slightly taken back by the comment; Raina took this chance and put the bottle in his mouth. Loki took the bottle from her hands and chugged down the rest, tossing the bottle off to the side of the bed.

“That, that is some really good wine. We should definitely go buy more.” Loki muttered. Raina leaned her head down closer to Loki. Just when their lips were about to lock Raina’s bedroom door flew open to reveal a very drunk Tony.

“Sup guys! There’s this totally banging party downstairs, you two should definitely join in!” Tony slurred out as he rushed forward and grabbed Raina’s wrist, who in turn grabbed Loki’s hand. Downstairs it was certainly a party. People were either dancing or sitting down laughing and talking; Rachel, Clint, and Natasha were the ones off to the side dancing to what Raina immediately recognized as ‘We Are Young’.

“Oh my Odin! I love this song!” Raina yelled out as she began swaying her hips to and fro. “Come on Loki, dance with me.” She whispered, grabbing onto his shirt and pulling him closer to her. Loki unsure what to do, put his hands onto Raina’s waist and began moving to the beat of the song with her. Soon the song ended and ‘Sorry for Party Rocking’ came on. Raina dragged Loki into the kitchen and both, mainly Raina, began to drink up yet more wine. When they returned to the living room Steve was now up and dancing with Rachel. A few songs later Rachel and Raina had somehow ended up on top of the coffee table with Raina threatening to take off both hers and Rachel’s shirts.

It was when ‘S.E.X.’ started playing that Raina found herself being pulled off of the table and being dragged upstairs into what she found to be Loki’s bedroom. Giggling, Raina ran over and jumped onto the bed, taking in the scent. Behind her Loki had shut the door and was now walking over to the bed.

“Now, where were we?” He purred as he climbed onto the bed.


	15. Chapter 15

The first thing that Rachel was aware of when she woke up was the fact that she was laying on a hard surface, the next thing she noticed was that there were multiple bodies lying around or on her. Her head was pounding and she was sticky from sweat. In short, she was having the worst hangover to date. Rae finally got up the courage to open her eyes and immediately wished she hadn’t; the light only made her head pound more. She blinked a couple of times to get her eyes adjusted.

She realized that she was lying on the floor, Steve was lying on the right half of her body and Natasha’s head was on the left side of her chest, Tony’s head was on Rae’s stomach. She had no idea where Bruce, Thor, or Clint was. Rachel started to try to move out from underneath everyone without waking them up. She started to try to shimmy up, only to have Steve tighten his grip on her, causing Rachel to wonder when his hand had even gotten to her waist. 

Sighing, she looked over to the clock. It wasn’t even seven o’clock yet. Resigning herself to having to wake up Steve at the very least, she whispered his name, “Steve.” He didn’t move. “Steve, wake up.” This time he shook his head. “I can’t.” Rachel chuckled, “Well, can you at least get off of me.”

Her question seemed to wake him up. “What happened last night?”

“We all got very, very drunk.” Steve moved off of Rachel, who slipped out from Natasha and Tony. She had managed to make sure no one’s head had hit the floor hard. Looking around, she realized that they were in the kitchen. Rachel, ever the caretaker, got pillows from the entertainment room and put them under Natasha, Tony and Steve’s heads. She then started to walk up the stairs, which is where she found Clint. She got him a pillow also before heading all the way up the stairs. 

Rachel went to the closest bedroom to the stairs, which happened to be Loki’s. When she opened the door and turned on the light, she saw two people in their undergarments. She rolled her eyes, turned the light off and shut the door quietly. Rachel stumbled toward Raina’s room before changing her mind and heading towards her own room. She needed to take a shower and she wanted to do it in her own bathroom. Rachel brushed her teeth with one of her many toothbrushes, then took a shower. After she dried off, she put some undergarments and a tee shirt on, she then threw herself on the bed and fell back to sleep instantly.

A few hours later, Steve had woken up on the floor of the kitchen; his head pounding. He headed for the stairs, where he found Clint, he bent down and woke Clint up, “You’re on the stairs, someone’s going to trip over you.” Clint, who found a pillow underneath him threw it over the banister and into the hall, stood up. “Okay I’m awake.” Steve continued up the stairs, he heard Clint stumble down them, but not fall. Steve went to Rachel’s room after finding Bruce in the bedroom across from Loki’s room. 

Steve headed straight for the bathroom and took a shower, which was the reason that Rachel started to wake up. He wrapped a towel around himself and opened the door to the bathroom, and Rachel, who was mostly awake, looked over to the door. Their eyes met and Steve turned red while Rae’s eyes widened.

“I-I’m so sorry,” Steve stuttered.

“No, it’s fine.” She said.

“I should’ve knocked. I just, I didn’t think that-”

“It’s fine Steve,” Rae said, throwing back the covers, forgetting that she wasn’t dressed, “I’ll just-” She stopped speaking and realized why Steve’s eyes had grown wide and his face had become exponentially more red. 

“I’ll just leave.” She got up and walked out of her room, leaving Steve to feel guilty about his ogling of her body. Rachel headed into Raina’s room and went back to sleep for another couple of hours. 

+~*~+

“Ugh, holy shit man, my head is just ow!” Raina groaned as she sat up, on the bed grabbing onto her aching head. Looking around she found herself in only her underwear and Loki in his boxers. “Oh my Odin! Loki! Loki! Wake up, something happened last night, maybe, I don’t know I don’t remember!” Raina was shaking Loki trying to wake him up.

“Rain, it’s too early, what do you want?” Loki groaned trying to cover up his light sensitive eyes with his arm.

“Loki! We’re not wearing any clothes!” This got his attention as he was immediately awake and looking at Raina.

“I do have to admit, you have lovely tastes in undergarments.” Loki spoke quietly, eyeing her dark-green bra. Raina rolled her eyes.

“This is serious!” She lightly punched his shoulder. “Do you remember anything?”

“Perhaps,” Loki purred. Seeing Raina’s glaring eyes he decided to tell her, “We fell asleep. We didn’t do anything Raina, calm down my dear.”

“Thank god,” She sighed, “I mean, it’s not like I wouldn’t like to just uh, um.” Raina was beginning to stutter and trip over her words. Loki chuckled.

“Don’t laugh at me! Now where are my clothes at?”

+~*~+

A few hours later, when Rachel couldn’t stand lying around anymore, she got up and got dressed. She walked down the hall and then the flight of stairs, taking note that Clint was no longer on them. She looked in the entertainment room and saw Tony, Natasha and Clint sleeping on the couches. 

Rachel then realized that they were still missing Bruce and Thor. She hadn’t seen Thor since the night before. She doubled back to the office and checked in there, Thor wasn’t in that room. She walked over to the kitchen, then into the dining room, which is where she found Thor sleeping on the dining room table. She rolled her eyes and laughed quietly. She then closed the rolling doors that separated the kitchen and dining room. She found her laptop, battery drained in the living room. Rachel brought it into the kitchen and plugged it in. Her headache started to come back so Rachel found some Tylenol and took two with some water.

Rachel was checking her email when she heard some movement on the stairs. Since she hadn’t bothered opening any of the curtains, which were all blackout, the only real source of light came from the kitchen. When the person shuffled into the kitchen, Rachel looked up. It was Steve, who started turning red from the memories of that morning.

“How’s your head?” Rachel asked, deciding not to talk about the incident that was making Steve blush.

“Oh, it’s alright. It seems as though I still have a pretty high tolerance to alcohol.” Rachel nodded, “Lucky. I never did.” Steve laughed, and then became serious, “I really am sorry about this morning. I wouldn’t have even come in if I knew you were in there.”

“Steve, seriously, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s not like you were showing me something I haven’t seen before.” She said, chuckling. Steve’s eyes grew wide, and then he reminded himself that he was in a different time than he grew up in, and tried to be okay with the thought of Rachel having another man in her bedroom.

“Do you know where Bruce is?” Rachel asked, “I haven’t seen him since last night, but I haven’t been outside.”

Steve smiled and sat down, “He’s upstairs.”

“Ah. Are you hungry?” She asked. Steve cocked his head, “Shouldn’t we wait for everyone else?” Steve knew that they would have supper and dinner at different times, but they usually always had breakfast together.

“Well, I don’t know when everyone else is going to be getting up, I’d say about three or four and the dining room is currently occupied.”

“Someone’s sleeping in the dining room?” Steve asked, concerned.

“On the table.” Rachel said while smiling.

“Who?”

“Thor.” She said laughing; Steve couldn’t help but join her.

“So what’s the plan for today?” Steve asked after he finished laughing. Rachel shrugged, “I’m not really feeling like doing anything, so I’m probably going to end up in the pool at some point.”

“My head is killing me.” Clint said as he stumbled into the kitchen. Rachel immediately got up and got water and Tylenol for Clint. She handed it to him, “Here ya go.” Clint took the pain reliever. Bruce walked in after Clint and loudly said, “How’s your head?” Clint groaned and walked out of the room as Rachel hissed.

“Was that really necessary?”

“Of course,” Bruce said, smiling, “It’s a perk of not drinking.”

“Well bully for you,” Rachel said sarcastically.

“You all were hilarious last night,” Bruce said, sitting down at the table. Rachel looked up at Bruce, “I bet we were. How about you make breakfast since you’re not suffering from a hang over?”

Bruce smiled wickedly, “It would be my pleasure,” he said standing up and proceeding to make breakfast by banging pans and utensils around.


	16. Chapter 16

Later that day, after everyone had finally sobered up, gotten rid of their headaches, and had some food, Raina came running down the stairs in a bikini followed by Loki in a pair of borrowed basketball shorts.

"What are you two doing?" Clint asked as he and everyone else gave the two questionable looks.

"Haven't you heard from the grapevine yo? It's pool day!" Raina giggled as they continued to give her strange looks.

"You have a pool?" Tony questioned, still half asleep, along with the others.

"Yep! It's time to go swimming!"

"We don't have any bathing suits." Bruce stated.

"Oh don't worry about that, just wear your boxers or shorts or something, but I do have an extra bikini for you Natasha. It's lying on my bed if you want to go change." Raina said. "So hurry up! The pool waits for no man or woman, but it does wait for me. Yoloki!" She yelled at them as she and Loki walked out the back door.

"What?" Steve asked confused at what Raina had just said.

"You only live once, YOLO." Rachel explained, "She likes to add the 'loki' part. But seriously, if you don't hurry Rain will close the pool, she does that." Rachel told them as she went upstairs to get changed.

"What do you mean?" Steve asked as he followed Rachel up the stairs. "There's a tarp over the pool, if you don't get out there and she's bored of it she'll close it before you can get a chance at it, even if you're still in the pool."

"Oh."

"Now if you will excuse me," Rachel started to say as she reached her bedroom, "I need to get changed."

"Oh, um yeah, sure." Steve managed to get out as he backed away from Rachel's shutting door.

Soon they all found themselves outside in basketball shorts, or in the girl's case bathing suits. Raina and Loki were already outside; she had pulled him in and he was chasing her around.

"I regret nothing!" Raina was shouting as she swam quickly around Loki, dodging his arms. "Stay still! You're such a child!" Loki yelled as he reached for her again.

"You'll never take me alive!" Raina yelled in a Scottish accent.

"Alright children, time to share the pool." Rachel announced.

"I dun't wanna!" Raina splashed water at the group. Rachel gave Raina a look that said 'you're gonna' before Raina finally said, "Fine." Clint, Steve, and Thor were the first in while Natasha, Rachel, and Tony sat on some fold-up pool chairs sunbathing. Bruce was sitting in the shallow end of the pool wading.

"Kid I'm gonna kill ya!" Clint yelled at Raina. She had been diving under the water and was grabbing at people's ankles, scaring the living daylight out of them.

"Rain behave!" Rachel warned from her spot on the chair.

"I do what I want Rae!" Rachel responded by throwing a random pool toy at her. "Dude ow!" Raina dived back down under the water. Everyone in the pool was looking around for her, except for Loki who was wading in the corner watching the scene unfold. Seconds later Raina jumped out of the water screaming her 'battle cry' as she jumped onto Thor's back. While Raina started to giggle madly Clint and Steve went to trying to pry her off of Thor's back. Finally, after several moments they finally managed to get her off and threw her back into the other side of the pool.

The group messed around and swam around the pool for a couple hours more till Raina was all but asleep as she floated around the pool on her back snoring slightly. With the help of Steve and Bruce, Rachel pulled the tarp back onto the pool; Natasha, Clint, Tony, and Thor put the chairs back up while Loki carried Raina back into the house. Once everyone had cleaned up and changed into dry clean clothes, except for Rain who was refusing to wake up, Rachel began to make dinner. It was not until after everyone else had eaten that Loki came downstairs with a clean clothed Raina and they both got some food.

The rest of the night was fairly calm. The group sat around the living room watching TV until Rachel started to doze off, her head bumping Steve's shoulder; Raina had been asleep for some time earlier and Loki had already taken her upstairs where the two slept peacefully, for once, the rest of the group following mere hours later.

Loki woke up earlier than usual and found himself heading downstairs. He really wanted to go see Raina, but feared waking Rachel, so he decided to pass the time by watching the TV. When he got downstairs, he bypassed the entertainment room and went straight for the living room where he found Thor.

"Good morning brother," Loki said as he crossed the threshold into the room.

"Hello." Loki sat down next to Thor.

"What are you watching?"

"I believe it is called The Weather Chanel, Rain had it on last night." Loki nodded. He sat in silence with his brother until he could not take the silence anymore, "Thor I-" Loki found it hard to say at first, it was not something he made a habit of doing, "I am sorry, for the way that I have acted towards you. My actions- I overreacted. I-"

"Loki enough!" Thor interrupted him; Loki turned his gaze downward in shame. "I know how it must pain you to apologize, and sincerely, for once in your life. What I mean is, I know. These past few days I have seen how you have changed, how Rain has changed you, you are almost as you were when we were younger; I could not be any happier to have my brother back." Thor ended happily as he gave Loki a smile and a pat on the back.

"It is good to be back, brother." Loki admitted as he smiled back at Thor. "I am sorry my jealousy got the better part of me and forced us apart."

"When we get back home, no matter if I get the throne or not, I won't make a move without your approval; we will rule together." For the next few hours the two brothers sat watching The Weather Channel, because neither of them knew how to change the channel. Finally, Raina was the next up and awake, bringing down baskets of dirty clothes.

"Rain, what are you doing?" Thor asked her as she passed by them.

"What's it look like? Laundry." She answered plainly.

"Do you need any assistance?" Loki asked Raina as she walked by again carrying another basket full of clothes.

"Na, I got this." Another couple of hours later the rest of the Avengers were up and awake, watching Raina, attempt to do the laundry.

"Shit man!" Raina yelled out another curse as she slammed the door to the washer shut in anger. "For the love of all that is mischievous, what the hell is wrong with this thing!"

"Rain, move please." A very calm and awake Rachel said as she walked into the laundry room.

"Ugh, I was done anyways!" Raina pouted as she left the room and went to sit on the couch between Loki and Thor, her arms crossed.

"You almost had it this time, just thought you should know!" Rachel yelled out to Raina from inside the laundry room.

"She doesn't know how to do clothes?" Clint asked Rachel, incredulously.

"Yeah, isn't that like, a woman's thing? To know how to do clothes?" Tony spoke up. Rachel turned a 180 to glare at him. "Or, anybody else's thing, like a man's." Tony said quickly as he held up his hands up in defense.

"So I'm bad with technology, so what?" Raina spoke from her spot at the couch.

"Remind me to never let you into my lab, or my tower, at all." Tony said grimly.

"Or the helicarrier for that matter." Natasha added.

"Or my bike." Steve muttered.

"I heard that Steve!" Raina yelled out. Rachel walked out of the laundry room, shutting the door behind her.

"Ok, that should do it. Nice try though kid." Rachel said as she walked behind Raina, patting her on the head.

"I'll just leave it for you next time." Rachel laughed, "Yeah, sounds good. But you could always empty the dishwasher next time you decided to be helpful."

Raina giggled, "Sure thing, Boss Man."

"That's Boss Ma'am to you," Rachel said as she headed into the kitchen, getting ready to make breakfast for everyone. Throughout the day, Rachel had everyone retrieve their dirty clothes so that she could get all the washing done in one day. She made them all fold their own clothes, and didn't have a problem until Tony.

"I don't see why you can't fold your own clothes," Rachel said with exasperation. It had been twenty minutes since she had finished Tony's load of laundry and he was still refusing to fold them.

"Because they're just going to get wrinkled when I wear them, and it's not like I'm trying to impress anyone." Rachel rolled her eyes, "You're acting like a child."

"That means she's not happy with you," Loki said, coming into the living room where they were, "And I would know, she's never happy with me."

"Oh shut up," Rachel said, grinning at him.

"As you wish."

"How about we just stop feeding you until you fold your clothes?" Raina suggested, "We've got enough locks. You'll never get into another cabinet or the refrigerator again."

"No," Rachel said, "We're not doing that again."

"Why'd you have locks on your fridge?" Bruce asked with alarm. Rachel sighed as Raina chuckled at the memory.

"Raina wanted to go on a diet, so, upon her request, I locked up all the sweets and whatnot in about four cabinets. I found her ripping the doors off at three in the morning one night because she wanted some Reese's Pieces." Loki looked at Raina, "You couldn't have just asked?"

Raina blushed as she explained, "I told her not to give me anything, no matter how much I begged."

"Anyway, it doesn't matter because we're not locking things up. Tony's going to fold his clothes."

"Or what?" Tony challenged from his spot on the floor.

"Or I'll burn them," Raina said.

"Not a punishment." Rachel said, "He'll make it into a punishment for us."

"Good point. We could take his laptop away. And change the passwords on ours."

"Not bad, but we need something else."

"Why are you two conspiring together?" Bruce asked, "And when did it start?" Rachel turned and looked at Bruce, "She's my best friend, of course I'll conspire with her. Especially against Tony."

"Why do you hate me so much?"

"I don't hate you; I just want you to fold your own clothes. We are not your maids." Tony rolled his eyes, "Fine, I'll fold my clothes."

"All of them?" Rachel asked, raising her eyebrows and putting her hands on her hips.

"Yes."

"Neatly?"

"Yes," Tony said, pouting slightly.

"Good, now get to it."

"Yes mom," Tony said sarcastically. Rachel's left eyebrow raised and Tony looked down, immediately folding his clothes, quickly and neatly.

"That's what I thought," Rachel said before leaving the room to go get Bruce's laundry from the dryer.


	17. Chapter 17

"Hey Rain," Rachel called, throwing a pillow on her friend, "Get up."

"No," Raina said as she burrowed further under the covers.

"We gotta go shopping!"

"We go shopping like every day! Let's take a break." Rachel laughed, "We've got to get stuff for the fourth of July. Time for a cookout!"

"I don't wanna!"

"Too bad," Rachel said, "Get up!"

"Fine," Raina said, looking over to Rachel who was fully dressed.

"Good, if you're not down in ten minutes, I'm coming back. With Water." Rachel walked down the stairs and immediately went into the kitchen, where Bruce was making coffee to drink.

"Where's everyone else?"

Bruce shrugged, "Thor and Steve are on the couches, and I think Tony went to your room and Natasha and Clint are sharing."

"Oh, well, Rain and I are going to go shopping today." Bruce's eyebrows rose, "You're going shopping together?"

Rachel laughed, "Yeah, believe it or not, we used to go shopping together all the time before you lot came along."

"'You lot?'" Bruce questioned, "Are we British now?"

"Depends on the day."

"Coffee, I need coffee." Raina said as she stumbled into the kitchen.

"Here," Rachel responded after she got a mug filled.

"Thanks," Rain said as she sat at the table.

"So why are you going shopping today?"

"It's the fourth of July!" Bruce's eyes widened, "Wow, I haven't been keeping up with the days."

"So we're going to go get stuff for a cookout and birthday party."

"It's Steve's birthday! I almost forgot!" Raina said from her coffee. Bruce blinked, "How did you- oh yeah." Rachel smiled at him, "Yeah," then she turned to Raina, "You did forget, I literally just reminded you."

"We should have a surprise birthday for Steve!"

"Raina-"

"With cake, we should buy three; we don't know which one he'll like."

"But Rain," Rachel started again.

"And ice cream and presents and fireworks!" Rachel's hand flew up to her forehead, "Rain," She said exasperatedly, "Please calm down."

"Too late! I'm awake now! Let's go!" Raina said as she ran towards the front door.

"Rain, shoes." Rachel reminded her. Raina turned and ran back upstairs.

"Okay Bruce, you're in charge," Rachel said smiling, then added seriously, "My phone number's on the fridge, and don't let anyone near any type of flame."

Bruce chuckled, "Yes ma'am."

"Let's go Rae."

"I'm coming Rain," Rachel looked back at Bruce, "Call me if you need anything."

"So where to first?" Raina asked as they walked out of the door.

"Since you're hell bent on getting fireworks, we should go there first, but no big ones." Rachel said, ignoring the pouting look from Rain.

"Then we can go get decorations, then attempt to buy a couple of presents."

"We need some from Bruce too."

"What?"

"His birthday is close enough, and he might not be here for it." Rachel nodded then said, "Okay then, presents for Steve and Bruce. We might as well get bathing suits for everyone; I don't want any more clothes ruined by the chlorine. And finally, we'll get some groceries for the cookout, and I think we're going to need more eggs."

"Okay Boss Man," Rain said, saluting Rachel.

It took a few hours for the pair to finish their shopping trip and on their way home; Raina started whining about a car.

"Well, it's your fault we don't have one." Rachel laughed. "Let's get a cab."

When they arrived back at the house, Rachel immediately went to putting up the food so that it could get cold again while Rain hid the fireworks and presents in the office. While everyone still seemed to be asleep, the girls set up for the party. They put up banners in the dining room as well as relocated the presents into the room. Once they deemed the room decent, they shut the doors and locked them. As everyone started to make their way down for breakfast, they were surprised to hear that they were only getting toast. Rachel and Raina continued to prep for the cookout by making hamburger patties, marinated chicken, wrapped corn in foil, opened up hot dog packages and made shrimp, steak and chicken kebabs. Rachel also started working on the cakes that they were going to make for Bruce and Steve.

The Avengers had grown used to Raina's secretive nature, though they did not feel easy when she was like that, but they knew nothing about Rachel's and they were concerned, even Bruce, who knew that she was planning a surprise cookout for Steve. They were all rather flustered when she handed them two pieces of toast each and a glass of water before banishing them from the kitchen. She made them all go sit in the entertainment room, and though they had the TV on, they were not watching it. Loki however was finding it amusing to regularly walk up to the doorway to the kitchen and peer in; he laughed every time Rachel yelled or threw something in his direction to get him to leave. When the girls started taking things outside, Rachel lifted the entertainment room only ban.

"What are you guys even doing?" Tony, who had been the only one willing to confront them, asked.

"Cooking, what does it look like?" Rain responded.

"Hey, we got you all bathing suits, they're in the office, I think," Rae said as she carried the plate of kebabs out to the backyard.

"Yeah, they are," Rain confirmed as she followed Rachel out of the house.

"What is up with them?" Clint asked.

"They're both insane now." Natasha said, leaning against the sofa in the living room.

"No we're not!" Said Rachel in a sing-song voice. She was getting ready to take the corn outside. As Raina and Rachel finished cooking the hot things, they started bringing out the uncooked vegetables. Raina started ushering everyone out so that Rachel could finish the cakes in peace. As Rain entertained everyone outside, Rachel quickly cut the circular cakes in half. One was chocolate and the other vanilla, so she cut them so that they could both be chocolate and vanilla. She quickly covered the one with the chocolate top in white icing and the vanilla topped cake in green, Rain's idea, and then wrote 'Happy Birthday Steve' in blue icing and 'Happy Birthday Bruce' in white icing.

Once she had finished the cakes, she topped them with one candle each and then put them in the dining room, in the center of the table. Rachel closed the door again and cleaned up before heading outside. The rest of the group, minus Steve and Bruce had been informed of the future activities by Raina and Loki.

"Thank Odin you're here." Raina started, "We were dying of hunger!" Rachel laughed as she took her seat, "You could've started without me."

For the next couple of hours, they all sat around, eating and talking. Rachel started taking things in early, she said it was to avoid the flies, but it was so that she wouldn't have to worry about clean up, and soon they were all sitting around an empty table in the twilight. Rachel ran into the dining room after she finished putting up all the food and drinks and lit the candles on the cakes.

Rachel then ran out to the back door and signaled to Rain, who suggested that they go inside and then proceeded to pull Bruce and Steve to the back of the group and led them through the kitchen and into the dining room. The rest of the group had headed down the hall and entered the dining room by the entrance next to the front door. When Rain had gotten Bruce and Steve into the dining room, everyone else shouted "Happy Birthday!"

Steve and Bruce looked shocked, to say the least.

"I can't believe you did this!" Steve exclaimed. Rachel laughed, "Blow out your candles before they melt into the cake." Both of them stepped forward and blew out the candles. As Rachel removed the candles from the cakes, Bruce said, "It's not even my birthday." Rachel laughed again, "Four, fifteen, close enough. Besides, you might not be here for your birthday, so I wanted to get you a party too."

"T-thanks." Bruce and Steve stuttered. "No problem," Rae laughed, "Now who wants cake?"

"I do!" Raina exclaimed, running forward.

Rachel cut pieces of both cakes for everyone, and as they ate, Rachel got the presents and passed them out. Steve almost choked on his cake when he realized that he was getting presents, "You didn't have to, you've done enough for us-" Rachel held up her hand. "I don't want to hear it, they're from all of us."

"But," Bruce started.

"No, just open your presents, and enjoy it." Rachel and Raina had gotten Bruce a bottle of whiskey, a fishing pole and a Zen tree, which was Rain's idea. For Steve, they picked out the original, first five Captain America comic books, some Captain America swimming trunks, all Rain's ideas and a regular brown belt. After many thanks from both men Rain clapped her hands, "Who's ready for fireworks?"


	18. Chapter 18

“Fire in the hole!” Raina yelled as she lit up a string of firecrackers, threw them up into the air, and ran. The firecrackers began to make several loud pops as it made its way back down to the ground, sizzling out when it did. Rain started to giggle madly and went to grab a few more.  
  
“Shouldn’t someone stop her?” Steve asked everyone else. While Raina was out in the yard blowing up fireworks the rest of the group sat around on the porch either still munching on the food or just sitting and talking.  
  
“Nah, she’s good.” Tony scoffed.  
  
“Don’t worry, I didn’t let her buy any overly destructive fireworks, just several smaller ones.” Rachel assured them, just as Raina brought out a giant rocket looking firework from within the bushes.  
  
“You were saying.” Clint spoke for the rest of the group as Raina rushed into the yard with the explosive and a lighter, Loki in tow with another giant explosive.  
  
“Rain! Loki!” Rachel yelled at the two as she jumped up from the porch and ran out into the yard.  
  
“Too late!” Raina yelled back as she and Loki stabbed the two rockets into the ground, lit them on fire, and made a run for the porch.  
  
“You two are so dead!” Rachel shouted to them as she turned to run with them away from the explosions. As the trio reached the porch they quickly turned their attention to the night sky as the two rockets shot upwards and began exploding in a rush of red, white, blue, green and purple. Loki wrapped his arms around Raina’s waist as she leaned her back into his chest; Steve unconsciously wrapping an arm around Rachel’s shoulders and pulling her closer. They all watched in awe at the marvelous colourful display.  


* * *

  
  
Rachel pulled Steve inside the house while everyone else was watching the fireworks.  “What is it?”  Steve asked her.  She smiled and led him into the kitchen.  “I got you something.”  
  
“You’ve already given me so much.”  Rachel started blushing, “This is special.”  Steve looked at the woman standing in front of him, admiring her.  “Okay, I’ll bite, what is it?”  Rachel reached into a cabinet and pulled out a smallish black box, she handed it to him and leaned against the counter.  Steve looked at her, and then at the box, wondering what could possibly be in a box that old.  He opened it and saw a watch with multiple dials and a black leather band.  It looked _really_ old.  The face had once been white, it was chipping now.  The blue numbers on all three dials were still visible.  The hands were blue too.  Steve had no idea how old this thing was, but he did know that she had put a lot of thought into this.  
  
“It’s vintage,” She stated, “It’s almost as old as you.”  Steve knew that Rachel was watching him, waiting for a reaction, but Steve was just so shocked by this.  
  
“It’s a World War II era Heura,” Rae continued, her voice showing her uncertainty, “Manual wind.”  
  
Steve finally pulled his eyes from the watch and met Rachel’s eyes.  “It’s fantastic.”  Rachel smiled widely and Steve stepped forward, closing the gap between them.  He set the watch down on the counter behind Rae and then put his hands on her hips and kissed her.  Rachel responded by wrapping her arms around him.  When they pulled away, they were both smiling. “Come on, we better get back outside before we’re missed.”  Steve nodded, “Okay.”  
  



	19. Chapter 19

Raina woke up earlier than everyone, which meant that she had something to do.  She knew that the Avengers really wouldn’t be in this version of reality for forever, and she believed that it would be nice if she were to get them beds, just so they could be more comfortable.  She got up and went back to her room and got dressed after her shower.  Rain left Rachel a note, telling her that she just needed to get some things from the store.  Rain left the house and walked a few blocks before she hailed a cab.    
  
Once she got into the store, Raina went over to the twin beds and immediately started testing them out.  An employee, who thought that Rain was just there to screw around came over and asked in a sarcastic tone, “May I help you?”  Raina smiled at the man, “Yeah, do you do same day delivery?”  
  
“Why yes we do.”  Rain nodded, “Okay.”  She proceeded to test out six more beds in front of the man before going back to the one she had been sitting on when he first approached.  The employee had never stopped following her and when she came all the way back he started to speak, “Look, if you’re just here to-”  Raina cut him off, knowing what he was going to say, “I’ll take four of these, frame, box spring and mattress.”  Rain smirked as the man balked at her.    
  
Once he figured out what she had said, he stood up straighter, “Yes ma’am, and you’ll want _all_ of these for same day delivery?”  
  
Rain nodded, “Yup.”  
  
“I’ll be right back with the paperwork.”  
  
After Rain had finished in the bed shop, she went to her favorite department store and bought some sheets and pillows for the new beds.  She cursed the fact that she hadn’t brought anyone with her, but she knew that Rae, and Loki would have both said it was a waste and she wanted to surprise everyone.  Rain hailed a cab all the way back to the house and even had him help her get everything to the door before she paid him.  Raina opened the door to the house and started lugging all of the bedding into the office, once she had finished putting everything up, she closed the door.  Rae would never look in there; they never used it for anything anyway.  The one desk they did have was in the living room.  
  
The Avengers and Loki started to wake up around eleven, and coming into the kitchen for the food and coffee that Rain had made.  When Rae finally got up, she came into the kitchen and asked, “Hey, did you get the stuff you wanted?”  Rain froze for a fraction of a second, wondering how Rae could’ve known, then remembered her note. “Yeah, I just needed another toothbrush.”  Rae’s eyebrow rose, “You could’ve just asked me for one, you know I keep like six at a time, just in case.”  
  
“But you never get purple,” Raina mock-whined, knowing that Rachel would just brush her off.  Rae, as Raina expected, rolled her eyes.  “Whatever kid.”  
  
As the morning turned into afternoon, Rain, who had never been a patient person, was starting to get anxious about the delivery.  When the doorbell rang, Rain ran from her bedroom down to the front door, but Rachel, who had been downstairs answered the door first, “Hello?”  
  
The delivery guy shoved a clipboard into Rachel’s face. “Yeah, you ordered four twin beds.  I need you to sign here.”  Rachel’s eyes grew.  “No, sorry, you have the wrong address, I didn’t order any-”  
  
“I did,” Rain said as she pushed past Rachel and took the clip board and signed.  The delivery man nodded, “Where do you want them?”    
  
“Back this way,” Rain said, showing the man the way to the office and completely ignoring Rachel’s look of confusion and rage.  
  
The man went back outside and he and another man came in with the first bed.  Rae, who had not moved, had to be pulled into the dining room by Natasha.  The entire time the men were there putting the beds into the office and then setting them up, Rachel staying silent.  
  
As soon as the men had gone, Rain turned to Rachel, who hadn’t moved from the seat that Natasha had forced her into.  The Avengers all went into the living room, but they were all pretty sure they were going to go upstairs to avoid what was definitely going to be a blowout from Rae.  When Rain walked into the room, she sat down next to Rachel, who was refusing to look at her.  
  
“Can you just like yell at me already?  You’re obviously mad.”  Rachel snapped her head to look at Rain so fast that Rain was convinced that she should’ve at least popped something in her neck.  Rachel glared at Raina with such intensity that Rain actually shrank back from her friend.  
  
“No Raina, I’m not mad,” Rachel started in a low voice, which Rain knew all too well, “I am so fucking angry that I can’t even think straight.”  Rain looked in Rae’s eyes, “But I’ve done worse, why is this so bad?”  
  
Rachel closed her eyes, attempting to calm down.  “No, you haven’t.  I let you slide with a bunch of shit because you’re you, but _this_?”  
  
“I don’t understand.”  
  
“That’s the point!” Rachel screeched, standing up, “You don’t think before you do things!  I can forgive the time that you set our dryer on fire, or the time you got us arrested for throwing fireworks out of the car on the fucking interstate!”  Raina had put her head down, “This wasn’t _that_ bad, compared to all of those things.”  
  
“Did you even think about how much all of this would cost?”  
  
“I did!” Rain said in a small voice, “I checked my bank account before I did this.”  
  
“Yeah?  And how much are you going to have left?”  Raina’s answer was to put her head down.  
  
“That’s what I thought.  You expect me to always be there to cover your ass when you do something irresponsible.  When are you going to grow up?”  Rae’s voice took on an earnest tone.  Raina lifted her eyes from the table to see her friend’s harsh glare.  
  
“But Rae-”  
  
Rachel put her hand up “I don’t want to hear it Raina; I thought you were learning your lesson after you drove your car into the lake!  You just keep doing these things and you _always_ end up in a bad position and you _always_ expect me to get you out of it.”  Rachel pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance.  “You are so selfish Raina.  Just like the time you-” Rachel was interrupted by Loki, who had come into the room, not being able to stand hearing Raina be berated any longer.  
  
“She was just trying to help everyone out.”  Rachel turned a full one eighty to view Loki.  “No one asked you.”  She growled, “Now get out.”  
  
Loki stood in the doorway, looking bored, “No.”  Rachel took a step towards him, knowing that he was only here to get her mind off what Raina had done.  
  
“Fine,” She said, swinging the door closed, almost hitting Loki in the face with it.  She turned back to Rain, “You can’t keep doing this.”  
  
“I was just trying to help.”  
  
“I don’t know how when _you_ said you don’t believe they’re going to be here that long.”  
  
“I don’t, and that’s why I got the beds now, they might as well be semi-comfortable while they’re here.”  Rachel sighed loudly.  “What are we going to do with four twin beds after they leave?”  
  
“I don’t know; donate them to charity or something.  It’s not like my bank account to _that_ big of a hit.”  
  
“Don’t you even understand why I’m mad?”  Rachel cried, exasperated.  
  
“No, it’s my money.”  
  
“And who’s going to have to support you when you run out?  You don’t think about things in the long-term, you just go ‘oh, well I think this will be fun’ and you don’t even consider the consequences of your actions.  You crash a car and go ‘oh I'll just buy a new one.’ You get us arrested, ‘oh we’ll just pay the fines’ you don’t even worry about how this shit goes on to your permanent record.  You bought four fucking beds and don’t even worry about what you’re going to do when the inhabitants of the beds are gone.  Do you see the pattern?”  
  
“Yes, but-”  
  
“I don’t want to hear it,” Rachel snapped.  She opened the door to the dining room and walked down past the living room to get to the back door, which she promptly opened and walked out, closing it rather sharply as she left. Raina turned and ran swiftly by everyone else, pushing a couple of them, including Loki who tried to grab onto her arm, to the side and ran up to her room; the group cringing as they heard and felt the bedroom door slamming shut upstairs.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who has read Chapters 17-19 before Dec 22, 2012, then you might want to go back and re read them, we're not sure how, but Stephanie and I got the chapter order mixed up. All has been restored to the natural order now.
> 
> Thanks for the kudos and thanks for reading,
> 
> ~Jade

“I’ll go find Rachel.” Bruce announced. “I’ll go with you.” Steve told him, following Bruce out the door. Seconds later Loki went up the stairs to Raina’s room. He walked swiftly up the stairs and was about to call for her from the other side of the door when he started to hear heavy stuff being thrown around and the sound of some of those objects breaking, along with heavy sobbing and screaming. When Loki stopped hearing the breaking sounds he finally called out to her, “Rain. Please let me in.”  
  
“Go to hell!” Raina yelled out in between sobs.  
  
“Raina let me in.” Loki said a little more sternly.  
  
“Go away!” She yelled. Loki hesitated, and then decided that she needed some time to calm down and went back downstairs. Loki sat down on the couch, shaking his head and sighing. Clint went up next.  
  
“Raina, open up, everything will be alright.” He spoke through the door.  
  
“Go away or I will cut off your manhood and shove it in your mouth!” She yelled at him. Clint grimaced and returned downstairs.  
  
“We can’t just let her sit up there all day. Nothing good can come out of such self-isolation.” Thor stated, finally breaking the silence.  
  
“I shall try again then.” Loki announced as he rose from the couch and went back upstairs.  
  
“Raina, open up this door, now,” He demanded.  
  
“Who are you, my father?” Loki waited a few moments, making her think he had left and then began to pick quietly at the lock. When he’d finally got it opened Loki found Raina laying on the floor in the middle of a bunch of broken glass, small cuts covering her arms and legs. She was on her back, tears falling down her face, just staring blankly up at the ceiling. “Come now, my dear, let’s get you someplace safer.” Loki said as he picked her up, Raina muttering a soft ‘Go away’ as he did, and took her to his room, placing her onto his bed.  
  
“How about we get these cuts cleaned up.” Loki went to dabbing at all of Raina’s cuts, rubbing away all of the blood. As soon as he was done, Raina sat up and threw her arms around him and began crying again. “I try to do something responsible, show that I can and once again it’s thrown back in my face! It’s not fair!” She cried, hiding her face in his shirt. As Loki put his arms around her to hold her closer he made an epiphany. He knew exactly how she felt because it was exactly what he felt when he’d tried to destroy Jotunheim and when Odin showed great shame and anger for his actions.  
  
“I’ll always be here for you my dear sweet Raina, and I know that you’ll always be here for me. We were meant to meet.” He whispered into her ear.  
  
“If only we could’ve met earlier.” She muttered back pulling him closer to her. Loki held two fingers under Raina’s chin, moving her face upwards, her eyes meeting his.  
  
“But we have each other now and that’s all that matters.” Loki spoke softly as he started to lean his head down closer to hers. Their lips locked and in those few short moments nothing else in the world mattered.  


* * *

  
  
Rachel stomped out of the back door and walked in the direction of the woods.  She didn’t know where she was going, but she kept putting one foot in front of the other.  Not so deep down, Rachel knew that she had over-reacted.  Buying things was a habit of Raina’s and this time she actually had a good reason for it.  Rachel sighed angrily, and walked faster, going deeper into the woods.    
  
Even though she wouldn’t admit it to herself, she was afraid.  Somewhere Rachel knew that this would never be a permanent situation; the Avengers and Loki would have to leave.  Rachel was terrified that Raina would leave her.  Rachel, though an intelligent and independent woman, didn’t make friends easily.  She feared that she would never be able to move on from Rain.  Raina’s bringing in of the beds only meant more of a pain when everyone left her.  Rachel was going to be left alone to clean up the wreckage.  She hadn’t had to do that in a long time, even longer when part of the wreckage would be herself.    
  
Rachel was also worried about the Avengers themselves leaving; she felt as though she had grown rather attached to them over the past week and a half.  Tony was just as funny as Raina.  Thor was a giant teddy bear and great for hugs.  Clint was the smart ass and also good for archery advice.  Natasha was another female she could talk to without having to be girly, which Rachel appreciated.  Bruce was a wonderful listener and a truly caring person.  And Steve, Rachel couldn’t think about him, she knew that she had passed the crush stage with him.  Rachel honestly couldn’t tell if she would be more heartbroken by Steve or Raina leaving her.  
  
Rachel slowed down her walking, and stepped hard on a rock, which reminded her that she had stormed out without wearing any shoes or socks.  She had lost the purpose and anger in her walk, which meant that now she was going to pay; every rock or twig that she stepped on was going to hurt now.  Rachel slowed down even more, trying to figure out where she was, and once she did, she changed her direction a little more to the east so that she was heading towards the river that was at the edge of her property.  
  
Rae stepped out into the clearing that led to the bank.  A couple of months ago, her and Raina had moved about four boulders semi close to the bank so that they could sit there and watch the water go by.  Rachel walked over and sat down.  A single tear fell from her eye as she thought about the possibility that her best friend was going to leave her.  Rachel could easily admit that she needed Rain in her life, and would be lost without her.  
  
Rain provided the humour in her life that Rachel neither wanted to or could get anywhere else.  Rae put her head in her hands; she felt like a complete shit for the way that she reacted to the beds.  With her anger gone, perspective wise, buying five beds was really on the low side of bad decisions that Rain had made, and it wasn’t even really a bad decision, Rain had a legitimate reason for the beds.  It wasn’t like the time that she bought four laptops to see which one was more durable by taking a hammer to each of them.  Rain had accidentally smashed Rae’s laptop when she did it because Rain had bought an identical one.  Rachel wouldn’t allow herself to cry, not yet anyway.  She did, however let a couple more tears slip from her eyes.  She felt oddly alone in that moment.  
  
Rachel felt a presence behind her and she knew that someone had come looking for her, for a minute, she thought that it was Raina.  She was disappointed when she felt a hand on her left shoulder.  The hand belonged to Bruce.  She wasn’t all that surprised when Steve came and sat down on her right side.  
  
“Do you want to talk about it?”  Those seven words are generally unassuming, but in the right moment, spoken by the right person, they can send someone into tears, which is exactly what happened to Rachel when Steve asked her that question.  Seven words send Rachel into tears for the first time since she was sixteen.  Bruce, who had moved so that he could sit next to her, hugged her.  
  
“I’m a shit,” Rachel sobbed.  Steve ignored her language and said, “No you’re not.”  
  
“Yes I am, look at what I did, just because I was angry.”  Bruce laughed, “I’ve done a lot worse when I was angry.”  Rae looked over at him, and attempted a smile, but failing spectacularly.  
  
“Was it really the money that you were upset about?”  Steve asked knowing that it wasn’t.  Rachel confirmed his suspicions by shaking her head.  She then proceeded to tell them almost everything.  She told them how she was afraid of Raina leaving her and how she tried just taking the anger out on Loki, then how she was upset with beds because they were just going to remind her that she had a full house and how much she knew she was going to miss everyone when they left.    
  
Steve and Bruce listened patiently as she talked through all of her fears and when she finished, Bruce asked, “If you’re worried about Rain leaving, why don’t you just go with her?”  Rachel blinked at Bruce.  That was the only option that she hadn’t considered, but even as she did, she knew that she wouldn’t; unlike Raina, Rachel had a family to be concerned about.  
  
“I can’t,” She said looking at Bruce, “My family.”  Rachel didn’t notice Steve frown when she said that.  
  
Bruce, who _had_ noticed Steve’s look, asked, “How about we figure it out later?”  Rachel wiped her eyes and nodded.  
  
“How’s Rain?”  
  
“We don’t know, we went for you, but I think she’s as upset as you.”  
  
“You need to talk to _her_ about this Rachel, it’s well past time.”  Bruce said.  
  
“I know, I just don’t want to lose her.  Believe it or not, I _like_ taking care of people, and I don’t think there’s anyone in the universe that would need me as much as Rain.”  
  
“Maybe you should stop trying to take care of people and let someone take care of _you_ for a change.”  Steve said.  
  
Rachel frowned, “I guess.”  
  
“What do you say we head back?  You and Raina need to talk.”  
  
Rachel sighed deeply at Bruce’s words, “Okay.”


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all,   
> Stephanie and I are terribly sorry about forgetting to update on Monday again, but as I've got a little time today, I decided to put the chapter up and, as a special Christmas treat, I'm going to put up two chapters today.
> 
> Hope you enjoy them both.
> 
> Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

With Loki, Bruce and Steve gone, the rest of the Avengers sat around in the living room together, waiting for everyone to get back.  
  
“What are we going to do?”  Natasha asked.  
  
“What _can_ we do?” Thor asked.  
  
“Stop asking questions and answer them.”  Tony replied, “We need to give them some space to work out their problems, for starters.”  
  
“I hate to ask another question, but where do we go?” Clint asked.  Tony sighed, “I suggest that wherever they end up, we vacate that floor.”    
  
“Shouldn’t someone remain, to make sure they do not kill one another?” Thor countered.  
  
“No,” Natasha answered, “They should work this out alone.”  
  
“Okay,” Clint started, “Then when Rae gets back, we just run in the opposite direction.”  
  
“Good plan,” Tony said.  They all sat down and waited for either Rachel to come back or Raina to come down the stair.  They didn’t have to wait long before Rachel, Steve and Bruce to come through the back door.  Rachel walked in and went straight up the stairs.  
  
She immediately went to Raina’s room, assuming her to be in there.  When she walked in and saw all the broken glass, she closed her eyes, realising the damage that she had done with her words.  Rachel cleaned up the mess, wanting to think through what she was going to say to Rain.  When she finished cleaning, she knew there was only one place to go.    
  
Rachel walked to Loki’s room and knocked on the door.  She didn’t have to wait long before the door opened to reveal Loki.  He was obviously not happy with Rachel, but she refused to back down with him, especially now.  He moved to let her in wordlessly and Rachel couldn’t help the look of shock that came over her face.  He left the room as Rachel walked in.  He closed the door behind her.  Rachel walked over to her friend, asleep on the bed.  Rachel sat down on the side that Loki had obviously been laying on previously.  
  
Rachel sighed before shaking Raina lightly.  “Rain,” she said almost silently.  Raina curled up into a tighter ball.  “Please.”  Rain sat up reluctantly and faced Rachel.  “What?”  
  
“I’m so sorry about what I said earlier.”  
  
“I was just trying to help,” Raina responded, repeating her earlier statement.  
  
“I know, I’m just stressed.  I’m sorry that I took it out on you kid.”  Rain looked up at her.  “I didn’t do anything wrong though.”  
  
“I know.  It’s your money, you can spend it the way you want.  I just freaked.  I was thinking about how I would support you and me _and_ mom.  I shouldn’t have taken it out on you, it was a shitty thing to do.”  
  
“ _You_ need to stop worrying about money all the time.  You don’t have to worry about that anymore.  But that’s not what it’s really about, is it?”  Rachel’s only response was to put her head down.  
  
“I’m just going to miss you so much when you go.”  Raina’s eyes widened, “Go where?”  
  
“With Loki.”  
  
“Rae,” Rain started quietly, “I haven’t decided anything yet.”  
  
“You’re an idiot if you don’t go with him.”  Rachel said, looking into Rain’s eyes, “You can’t just stay here because of me, if you love him, you need to go.”  
  
“But what about you?”  Rachel shook her head, “I’ll be here, doing stuff.”  She smiled at the joke that she made.  
  
“But-”  
  
“Rain, it’s fine, I’ve always had more attachments than you here.”  Rachel held her head slightly higher and looked at Rain with complete seriousness, “I’ve got people I need to take care of here Rain.  Loki can take care of you.”  
  
“What about Steve?  You’re just going to make him go through heartache again?  You’re going to put yourself through that?”  
  
“I have responsibilities here.”  
  
“On that argument, I have responsibilities too, you.”  Rachel sighed, it seemed as though they would never get to the same page.  “Can we just agree to disagree?  For now?”  Rain frowned but agreed to Rachel’s suggestion.  
  
“So,” Rain started, “We should probably go down and tell everyone that we’re not going to kill each other anymore.”  Rachel started laughing, “Sure, but one more question.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“Rain, did you even buy sheets and pillows?”  
  
“Yeah, they’re in the office.”  Rachel rolled her eyes, “Of course they are, I’m going to start going in there once a day so you can’t hide things from me anymore.”  
  
“Well, the Avengers are going to be sleeping in there, so yeah.”  
  
“Alright,” Rachel said, standing, “Let’s go show them that we haven’t killed each other.”  
  
The girls walked down to the living room, where the Avengers and Loki were all gathered.  They had the TV on but it was obvious that they hadn’t been paying attention to it.  All of their bodies were tense, clearly waiting for the moment when the girls would come down or tear each other to pieces.  
  
“We’re fine now guys.”  Everyone looked over to Raina and Rachel, not really believing that there weren’t any more hurt feelings.  
  
“Really?” Clint finally asked, eyeing Raina.  
  
“Yes,” She answered.  Rachel smiled, “So, we need some help with making the beds.”  
  
+~*~+  
  
“This is what is called a controller,” Raina explained to Loki, Thor, and Steve, “You use it to control your character. Just watch what I do.” Raina stated to play one of her Halo games, explaining what each button does as she did. After a few minutes of letting them watch Raina handed each of them a controller, switching the game to multi-player.  
  
“This game is quite complex.” Thor spoke as he attempted to shoot one of his foes on the screen, but to no avail.  
  
“Do kids play these?” Steve asked, concerned.  
  
“Yeah, even though they have an adult rating on them. Most kids get used to the violence, others take it way too far. I blame the parents.” Rain explained as she stood behind where Loki sat on the couch, her head next to his whispering tips and such so he could beat Thor and Steve.  
  
“Brother, pray tell how are you so skilled with this ‘game’?” Thor asked just as he died again.  
  
“You could say I have a guardian angel.” Loki answered. Thor and Steve turned towards Loki to see Raina bent over the back of the couch giving Loki hints.  
  
“If that’s how you want to play,” Tony spoke up from his spot in the room, “I’ll lend you a hand there point blank.” He said as he walked over to stand behind Thor.  
  
“I might as well.” Rachel sighed as she too went to stand behind Steve. After a couple of hours, and the score coming out almost even with Loki only up by a couple extra kills, Raina decided that they should play something else that was slightly simpler.  
  
“Dance Dance Revolution?” Steve read out.  
  
“Yep, basically if you see the arrows pop up on the screen you step on them here on the mat as they reach the top of the screen.” Raina explained. “Hey Rachel, want to demonstrate for them?”  
  
“Sure.” The two girls set up the mats and started going through song choices. After a few minutes of arguing over what song to do they finally came to an agreement.  
  
“Nice moves!” Tony called out in the middle of the song. Loki sent a glare at him for looking at Raina that went unnoticed.  
  
“This is certainly a different style of dance from the festivals at Asgard.” Thor commented.  
  
“Yeah, different.” Steve added.  
  
“Ever that your dancing moves and your fighting moves are similar?” Natasha commented.  
  
“Rain’s got her own styles, that’s why.” Rachel answered.  
  
“Yup!” Raina smiled.  
  
“You look silly.” Loki finally spoke up.  
  
“Too bad, you’re up next!” Raina shot back.  
  
“That’ll be fun to watch.” Clint laughed. Loki rolled his eyes. Suddenly, Raina shot her leg out towards Rachel, tripping the woman and causing her to fall over.  
  
“I thought we agreed to no more cheating” Rachel said as she stood up.  
  
“I’m just dancing yo!” Raina snorted.  
  
“Does she play like that often?” Bruce asked Rachel, who’d started dancing again.  
  
“She used to. That’s why her fighting moves are similar to her dance moves, Natasha, she used to use them to trip me.”  The song ended and Raina immediately began to cheer.  
  
“Aight, who’s my next victim?” Raina turned to face the group smiling mischievously. For several more hours they all played random games, except for Raina who was banned and Loki who refused to. Finally, hours after the sun had set the group, one by one, decided to go to bed.  
  
+~*~+  
  
“ _Thor.....come outside to me.....Thor....come to me._ ” A female voice spoke within Thor’s mind.  Rising up from his bed in the office, Thor stood and began to walk outside.  Rachel and Steve, who were sitting in the entertainment room, heard Thor and asked him where he was going, only to be ignored. Inside Loki’s room, Loki turned his head away from Raina and their conversation as if sensing something.    
  
“What is it?” She asked him.  
  
“Something is wrong. I sense magic.”  
  
“Could it be Amora?”  
  
“Find Thor!” He exclaimed as he stood from the bed and ran out of the door.  
  
Rachel and Steve were following Thor out the door when Loki and Raina got to them, Loki pushing past everyone to get to his brother.  
  
“Thor!” Steve yelled, waking up the rest of the Avengers.  Thor was walking towards the image of a woman dressed in emerald green dress.  She had flowing blonde hair and bright green eyes.  
  
“Thor! Where are you going?” Steve yelled out to no avail. But Thor still kept walking. By now the rest of the Avengers had joined them outside.  
  
“Enchantress! Send me back to our reality!” Loki demanded.  
  
“Thor?!” Tony called out to him as well. He kept walking towards the woman. Suddenly, Rain ran forward getting in front of the thunderer, her hands on his chest trying to stop his advance. She growled as she saw it was not working. Rain raised her hand up into the air behind her. The group cringed as a resounding ‘smack’ sounded through the air. Thor stopped walking and raised a hand to his cheek where a pink hand-print was now prominent on his face.  
  
“Raina, what are you doing? Amora?!” Thor was broken out of his trance, his attention now on the Enchantress.  
  
“You may have been saved this time Thor, but I will be back for you, and you will be mine.” Amora growled out and disappeared in a flash of green.  
  
“Well, we know she’s here at least.” Natasha told the group.  
  
“Thank you friend Raina, for stopping whatever hold Amora had on me.” Thor said, placing a hand on her shoulder.  
  
“No prob bro.” Raina beamed up at him.  
  
“Well, now that that’s settled, everyone back in! I’m freaking tired.” Rachel told the group as they all began to walk back inside.  
  
Once Rain and Rachel had gone upstairs to bed, the Avengers and Loki all sat in the entertainment room.  
  
“I don’t think we need to worry about not getting getting back.” Natasha said, starting the conversation off.  Tony nodded and then said, “There’s no way we’re _not_ going to be taken back to our reality.”  
  
“Yeah, but what should we do until then?” Bruce asked.  
  
“ _I_ think that we should just stay here.” Loki stated.  
  
“Yeah, we all know your views on the matter,” Clint said dismissively.  
  
“But clearly Amora knows where we are, perhaps someone else will find us here, we don’t want to be gone when they do, it may be our only opportunity,” Loki argued.  
  
“She’s only here because Thor’s here, and you know it.” Natasha said.  
  
“But if we’re not going to be here much longer, we might as well stay here,” Bruce said logically, he had grown rather attached to both girls over the two weeks that they had been in this reality.  
  
“I agree,” Steve said finally, he had been arguing with himself over this point for the last couple of minutes, “We might as well stay where we know we don’t run the risk of being exposed, that is, if Thor doesn’t care.”  
  
“Why would I care?” asked the demi-god.  
  
“Because she’s after you,” Steve stated.  
  
“Then I say we shall remain here, if Raina and Rachel will have us.”  
  
“Okay then.” Tony said, “Is everyone else in agreement?”  When there were no objections, the group disbanded for the night and Loki, Natasha and Thor went upstairs to the bedrooms while Steve, Bruce, Clint and Tony went to the beds in the office.


	22. Chapter 22

When Tony woke up, he realized that Rachel and Raina were sitting in the living room, sitting on top of one another on their large chair, with one laptop on Rae’s lap.  
  
“What are you two doing?” Tony asked.  Rain and Rachel looked up in perfect synchronization, “Writing.”  Tony looked at the pair with wary eyes, “Why are you guys acting like the creepy twins from _The Shining_?”  
  
The girls laughed, “We do that when we write.”  Rachel said.  
  
“It’s because we always have the same ideas.” Rain giggled.  Tony glanced at Rain with an apprehensive look, “Yeah, okay. As long as Raina doesn’t drink any white wine while you’re at it.” he said, plopping down on the couch next to them.  
  
“So we need to make sure that she has a distinguishable feature, how about a scar over her right eyebrow?”  
  
“From what?”  
  
“A car accident.”  
  
“Don’t you think that’s a little close to reality?” Rachel asked, raising her left eyebrow.  
  
“What do you mean?” Tony asked.  
  
“We were both in car accidents.”  Rachel answered plainly.  
  
“She was in one by herself and then with me.  And I don’t think it’s too on the nose or anything.”  Tony nodded and then turned his attention back to the weather channel.  The meteorologist was saying that locally, it was supposed to rain all day, which meant that nine people were going to be confined to the interior of the house for a while.  
  
“You were in a car accident?”  Tony said, looking at the two girls.  
  
“Yeah,” Raina said, “I kinda thought that it would be a good idea to take my car on the bank of a lake at our home town, but, then I lost control and we went in.”  Tony raised his eyebrows and directed his look towards Rachel, “You let her drive on the bank of a lake?”  Rachel sighed, turning her attention away from the laptop, “No, I was asleep, in the back.”  
  
“That’s a hell of a way to wake up.”  Clint said, coming in from the kitchen, it appeared as though he had been listening in.  Rachel laughed, “Yeah.  It was.  And, coincidentally, it’s the reason I won’t let her have a car.”  Clint and Tony laughed.  
  
“How did you get out?”  
  
“Rain had all the windows down, and her screaming as we flew into the lake kinda woke me up,”  She said, answering Clint.  Tony looked at Raina, “How have you not killed anyone yet?”  Raina shrugged, “I don’t know.”  
  
“I do,” Rae smirked, “Me.”  
  
“Yes, and I’m the reason we have written so much.  Get to it,” Rain said to Rachel.  Rachel rolled her eyes and went back to typing on her laptop.  
  
“So what are you guys going to do today?” Rain asked.  The guys shrugged, “I guess we’ll just have to sit here until it stops raining.”  Rain nodded and turned her attention back to the laptop.  The day passed slowly for the Avengers, but they got their entertainment from Rain and Rachel.  They worked on their story by acting out certain parts, arguing and then yelling when they both agreed on something; they were also amused during the times when Rain or Rachel would want to get up and have to get back in their original position.  When it got into the early evening hours, Rae stood up and stretched, yawning, “Okay, I think we should call it a day, How about you?”  Rain finished saving the document and closed the laptop, “Yeah, I’d say we’re good.”  Just as Raina finished speaking, the rain started pouring.  Raina looked up at Rachel and then yelled, “Dance party outside!”  
  
“No Rain!” Rachel yelled as she tried to stop Rain from running out of the house, but Rain only pulled Rachel with her. “Rain,” Rachel whined.  
  
Rachel found herself standing in the middle of the back yard with precipitation assaulting her from all angles. Rain was dancing in circles around Rachel, a little more than an arm’s length away.  The rest of the members of the household were standing on the back porch watching the two females screaming in the rain.  Raina turned her head and looked at the group on the porch.  She ran towards them at full tilt.  They all tried to get back into the door, but Natasha, Tony and Clint were stuck in it.  Rain grabbed Thor, who was at the back of the pack and got him soaking wet as she pulled him out into the yard.  
  
Loki laughed at his brother as the water soaked him to the bone, which caused Thor to yank Loki out from under the cover of the porch.  Rachel, who had come back underneath the porch, looked at the rest of the group and smiled, “You know she’s just going to pull you all out there.”  Rachel seemed to distract them all long enough for Rain to run and splash them all with water.  Rachel laughed and then high-fived Raina.  
  
“Are you serious?”  Bruce asked incredulously, “You’re working with her now?”  
  
“I’ve _always_ been working with her.”  They all looked scandalized at Rachel’s statement.  Rachel shrugged, “She’s my best friend.” Rae said in a childish voice.  She reached for Steve and Natasha and pulled then full out of the porch while Clint, Tony and Bruce got shoved into the rain by Raina.  Rae and Raina jumped back on the porch laughing at everyone else just letting themselves get drenched.  Raina ran back inside and came out with Rachel’s laptop and some speakers.  
  
“Hey, what the hell?  It’s raining, if you hadn’t noticed!”  
  
“I’ll keep it _dry_.” Rain said, waving Rae off as she pulled up a music station on the laptop.  She plugged the speakers in and said, “Dance party in the rain!”  Raina ran towards the yard, yanking Rachel from underneath the cover of the porch.    
  
“No!”  Rachel yelled.    
  
“Come on, dance with me!” Raina said as she grabbed Rachel and started swinging her around.  
  
“You’re gonna make us-”  Rachel started, but never finished because Raina slipped in a muddy spot.  Raina fell and  pulled Rae with her. Raina fell into a fit of laughs as she laid there rolling around in the puddle. Rachel tried to stand up as she too broke into laughs, only to fall right back down. Steve and Clint walked over to the two girls to try and help them up, only to be pulled down to the puddle by Rain.  
  
“Seriously you two.” Tony sighed.  
  
“Have some fun every now and then that isn’t related to drinking Tony.” Raina laughed out.  
  
“You’re fixing my hair when we get back inside Rain!” Rachel shouted at her friend.  
  
“Whatev yo! Hey Loki, be a gent and help me up!”  
  
“I’m sure you are more than able to help yourself up my dear.” Loki scoffed, sliding a hand over his head, slicking back his black hair.  
  
“How bout you Thor? I bet you can find some fun in the mud.”  
  
“I do find some enjoyment in the wrestling in the mud.” Thor beamed. “Though for the time being I will remain merely wet and not covered in mud.” Raina and Rachel glanced at each other and as they turned their heads to look back at the group their grins widened. The two girls took up handfuls of mud in each hand and before anyone could react, began throwing mud. Those that weren’t already covered in mud either attempted to duck and dodge the oncoming projectiles or tried to run from them. Raina took much enjoyment in their peril as she turned herself into a mud-slinging machine gun. After another thirty minutes or so of the two girls throwing mud at the other-worlders they finally calmed down, either sitting on the wet ground or on the porch.  
  
“Oh look, the rain stopped.” Raina stated.  
  
“Lovely.” Loki snorted.  
  
“Yeah, shower time. Rain your ass better be in the room when I get out to fix my hair.” Rachel stood, pointing at Raina as she spoke, and walked into the house.  
  
“I make no such promises.” Raina coyly smiled after the older girl.  
  
Later that night, after Raina helped Rachel to fix her hair and as Loki was just getting to bed, Raina snuck into his room via the roof. “I’ve got something special for ya!” She sang happily.  
  
“It wouldn’t happen to be more of that wine would it?” Loki replied snidely. Raina rolled her eyes.  
  
“You’re funny. No, here.” She handed him a necklace. On it was a small, silver helmet that resembled his own. “It’s my favorite necklace. Thought you could make more use of it than I can.” Raina explained as Loki took the necklace from her hand.  
  
“Even if it’s your favorite?”  
  
“I just thought that you could use it to remember me by for, um, you know, when I have to leave the house and stuff...” Raina looked to the ground, her voice going so soft it was almost silent.  
  
“Rain...” Loki whispered. She moved her head up to look into his eyes. “I promise you, there is no force in this universe or any other that can keep me from you.” He leaned down to Raina, placing a soft kiss on her lips. When they pulled apart she placed her head on his chest; Loki wrapped his arms around Raina, pulling her closer.


	23. Chapter 23

“Bruce! Bruce! Wake up Bruce!” Raina whispered from the edge of  the couch he was currently sleeping on.  
  
“Raina what are you doing?” Bruce muttered still half asleep.  
  
“We’re going fishing, get up.” She answered. Bruce opened his eyes to see Raina’s face a few inches away from his own.  
  
“Fishing?” Bruce asked again as he sat up on the couch.  
  
“Yep, so go get dressed.” Raina told him as she threw Bruce an armful of clothes. “We’re leaving in a couple of minutes so hurry up!” With a slight reluctance Bruce rose from the couch and headed to one of the spare bathrooms to get changed. After a couple of minutes he finally emerged and the two, with Rain holding the tackle box and Bruce carrying the fishing rods. that he had gotten a few days earlier on his and Steve’s ‘conjoined birthday party’. After much trekking through the woods they finally arrived at Raina’s secret fishing spot.  
  
“Okay, so there’s a fair amount of big fish in here, just a quick precaution. They can put up quite a fight, especially if you have worms on your hook, but don’t worry, these are good fishing rods they’ll hold up.” Raina explained as she sat herself down on one of the giant rocks that lay along the river side.  
  
“So you like to fish?” Bruce asked Raina.  
  
“Yep, ever since I was a kid.” She said proudly. “I caught an eel once, it was at ten at night, thought it was just some random snake, but then I started to wonder why the hell a snake would bite a hook with a worm on it. Needless to say it was an interesting night. What about you Bruce, do you do much fishing?” Raina cast her own line out into the river.  
  
“Yeah, it’s soothing. You can just sit there and not have to get mad at anyone or anything.”  
  
“I know what you mean! When I go fishing it’s the one time that I have to be quiet. Not that I mind. It’s good to be silent sometimes.” Raina’s head turned towards Bruce just as he began to get some bites on his hook. “Nice! You got a bite already!” She cheered.  
  
“You’re right, these fish are pretty strong.” Bruce began to reel in his line, then he would let it go some and start reeling it back in. Sure enough as Bruce’s line was reeled back in, he found a large fish at the end.  
  
“Dude! That’s like a four footer!”  
  
“Is...is that a shark?!” He asked incredulously. Raina put her fishing rod down and walked over to him.  
  
“Yep, a bull shark from the looks, and the fact that it’s in fresh water. It’s the only one who can swim in both fresh and saltwater.” Raina explained as she pulled the line closer over to her, examining the creature closer; it thrashed around wildly trying to escape.  
  
“You seem like you know a bit about sharks.” Bruce held out the pole further away from him.  
  
“Here, move it over to the ground. I got this.” Raina instructed. Bruce managed to get the shark placed on the ground where Raina promptly jumped on top of it. She used one hand to hold open the shark’s mouth while she used the other hand to pry off the hook from within its mouth. After a bit of struggling from both parties Raina managed to pull out the hook and tossed the shark back into the river where it swam away quickly. The whole time Bruce stood there with his mouth wide open in disbelief.  
  
“What was that all about?” He finally managed to get out after several minutes of gaping.  
  
“That was me setting a shark free.”  Raina beamed as she stood and brushed her pants off. “Well, how about some more fishing then?”  
  
“Sure. Let’s  just hope we don’t catch any more sharks.” Bruce sat back down on the rock and cast his line out. Raina followed, sitting down on her own rock and picking her own pole up. This went on for a few more hours, both Bruce and Raina catching several  fish each and throwing them back in. It wasn’t until both of their stomachs began growling viciously that the two began to pack up their fishing gear and head back to the house.  
  
+~*~+  
  
Loki was sitting on the back porch, waiting for Raina to get back from fishing with Bruce. Loki was thinking about what was going to happen when he got back to Asgard.  He was contemplating the idea of staying in this reality with Raina and inevitably Rachel, when he heard the back door opened.  Loki closed his eyes, thinking that it was his brother once again.  
  
“Hey,” he heard a feminine voice.  Loki looked up to see Rachel with two cups of coffee.  She offered him one, which Loki accepted, “Thank you,” he said.  She sat down next to him, “You’re like Lucifer, you know.”  
  
Loki looked to her, cocking his head to the side, “I do not understand.” Rachel smiled at him, “Lucifer? Angel? The Devil? Ring any bells?”  
  
“How so?”  
  
“Lucifer was the brightest of all angels, hell, his name is part of the root word for light, he was one of the archangels. Lucifer was the younger brother and Michael was his older brother.”  
  
“Are you just rambling, or is there a point to this?”  Rachel laughed, “Let me finish.  Everything was all good in heaven until God made man and God told the angels to bow down to man.  Lucifer refused and was cast down from heaven.”  
  
“I was never made to bow down to man.”  
  
“Don’t look at it so literally, _and_ stop interrupting me,” Rachel laughed, “Lucifer was sent to hell and is now considered the ‘bad guy’ with many people.”  
  
“Like me.”  
  
“But you can make the argument that Lucifer _isn’t_ the bad guy, he was just misunderstood.  He was just-”  
  
“Do you think me misunderstood?”  
  
“I don’t think you’re evil, if that’s what you’re asking.”  
  
“Then why-”  
  
“Do you really need to ask Loki?” The demi-god sighed, “I guess not.”  
  
“You just took things a little too far and I’m worried about what’s going to happen to her when she goes back with you.”  Loki laughed bitterly, “You are so confident that she will leave you here alone.  Have you not considered that her bond with you is far greater than with me?  And why are you so adamant about staying here when you believe your only friend will leave.”  
  
“You wouldn’t understand; I’ve got to stay with my family, I’m-”  
  
“You think I cannot understand the need to be with family?” Loki asked, offended.  
  
“You never let me finish speaking, you know that?  You don’t understand the need to monetarily provide for your family.  They wouldn’t have anything without me.   _I_ pay for everything for them Loki, our parents are dead and their aunts and uncles won’t help them out.”  After all the time that he had been around Rachel, this was the first in which he felt as though they did have something in common, he realized that she was an adopted child as well, but she had the added pain of being in charge of children that shouldn’t have been her burden.  
  
“You know, people here really feel like you’re just misunderstood, and they blame Odin for the way you reacted.”  
  
“Maybe I _should_ stay here.” Loki said, echoing his previous thoughts.  Rachel laughed, “Raina wouldn’t let you, we know that you have to get back to Asgard.”  
  
“What’s the point without Rain?”  
  
“She’ll go with you. I know she will.” Loki sighed with frustration, “Why are you so determined to be a martyr?  If you go with us, you leave your family, if you stay, you lose your friend and your love.”  
  
Rachel sighed, “Sometimes you have to make difficult decisions Loki.”  
  
Loki smiled at her, “Yes, we do.”  They sat in silence together until they saw Bruce and Raina heading their way.  
  
“Hey-” Steve stopped speaking when he saw Loki sitting with Rachel.  Loki slid closer to Rachel to give the impression that they _were_ having an intimate conversation.  Rachel, who pretended to be oblivious to the tension between the two men, smiled and said, “Yes?”  Steve shook his head slightly and said, “I was just wondering where you guys were, and I thought _you_ ,” he said, addressing Rachel specifically, “Would know where Bruce was.”  
  
“Raina took him fishing,” she said, nodding at the pair heading towards the house.  Steve’s eyebrows raised slightly, “Oh, okay, well, Tony and Thor have just finished making a questionable looking meal for everyone, so if you’re hungry, there’s something in there for you.”  
  
Rachel smiled at Steve and stood up.  She looked down at Loki, “I think I am getting a little hungry, send Bruce in when he gets here, okay?”  Loki nodded at her and Rachel turned around and walked into the house with Steve.  
  
Loki watched Rain walk closer to him, Loki noticing with some jealousy how close Rain and Bruce were as they walked.  As they got within hearing distance, Rain yelled to Loki, “Hey, have you been waiting for me?” Loki smiled at her and nodded.  
  
“How sweet.” Raina said meeting him at the stairs. Loki mentioned to Bruce that there was freshly made food in the kitchen, which Bruce took it as his cue to leave. As soon as the two were alone Loki began his interrogation.  
  
“Where were you and what were you doing with him?” He prodded.  
  
“Jeez Loki chill.” Raina told Loki as she took a seat on the back porch next to him; Loki sat down next to her. “As soon as he gets back to your reality Bruce's gonna' have to deal with the fact that he has to control his anger constantly, so I just thought I'd try to make his time worth while. Don't give me that look, we were fishing, Bruce likes to fish.” Raina held up her hands in defense.  
  
“Rain! What have you done this time?!” Loki exclaimed upon seeing the many new scratches on both of her arms, the blood having dried up not too long ago.  
  
“Well, Bruce caught a bull shark and I had to get it off of the hook and back into the water. Basically, it wasn't too happy about being caught; it gave me quit a fight.” Raina shrugged.  
  
“You wrestled...with a shark...”  
  
“Yep. A four footer too!” She beamed proudly.  
  
Loki sighed. “Come on, let's get these cuts cleaned up then.” He gently grabbed one of Raina's wrist and pulled her into the house.  
  
“Ow! Careful love!” Raina winced. Loki released her wrist and instead placed a hand on the middle of her back, pushing her forward gently.  
  
“Rain! What did you do!” Rachel's voice rang through the house upon seeing her younger friend's arms.


	24. Chapter 24

Raina, Natasha and Rachel were sitting in Raina’s room on her bed.  They were watching a movie on Raina’s laptop.  Rachel had rented an action movie, but the clerk had put in the wrong movie, so they were stuck with a chick-flick.  
  
“I don’t understand why they are going out with other people if they’re the ones in love,” Natasha said, “This is completely useless.  These people are so convoluted.”  

Rachel laughed, “All people are convoluted in one way or another.”  
  
“What does convoluted mean?”  
  
“Intricate and hard to follow.”  
  
“Ooh! Oh my Odin! Check out that chick, walking around holding her purse on her elbow. Who does that?!” Raina giggled.  
  
“I know right! Oh, here’s the other one. Stop texting you daft bimbo and watch where you’re going! God!” Rachel yelled at the screen causing the three women burst into a laughing fit.  
  
“How many times can a girl do her nails?” Natasha asked.  
  
“Apparently not enough times it seems.” Rachel replied.  
  
“They just did them twenty minutes ago! Dude this is so hard to watch, I can’t stand it when there’s someone near me who’s that ignorant.” Raina groaned.  “They’re almost as bad as those chicks in my golf class back in high school.”  
  
“Oh yeah I remember them.”  
  
“What were they like?” Natasha asked the two.  
  
“On days we wouldn’t go to the course we would stay inside in the gym. These chicks would sit on the bleachers, paint their nails, remove the nail polish, paint them again.....I just sat there thinking ‘Are you freaking kidding me?!’ It was ridiculous.”  Raina explained.  
  
“Didn’t they kick a kickball at you one time?” Rachel questioned.  
  
“Yeah, they stole it from the freshmen so I stole it back and threw it across the gym. When they finally managed to get it back they started kicking and throwing it at me. They weren’t that strong so it didn’t hurt as much.”  
  
“You let them get away with that?” Natasha questioned.  
  
“Eh, karma got them for me; they were constantly getting in trouble with the teacher.” Raina shrugged as she turned to look at the screen again.  
  
“These are the kinds of girls that get taken advantage of late at night when they’re by themselves on a lonely street.” Natasha said darkly. Rachel inched away as Raina inched closer saying “Tell me more.” The three women started to laugh again.  
  
“We need to do this again, this is awesome.” Raina proclaimed.  
  
“Definitely.” Natasha said.  
  
“Yep.” Rachel agreed. “It’s usually just been me and Raina all this time, it’s good to have another woman with us.”  
  
+~*~+  
  
Loki lay in bed late that night. Raina had stayed in her room, apparently her and Rachel were having what Raina told him to be ‘girl’s day’ and since they had not been having any of these ‘girl talks’ for a while that Raina would be staying in her room that night. Laying there for a few hours more, Loki began to drift off into sleep. Suddenly, the door burst open with Tony.  
  
“And just what might you be doing in here at this hour of the night?” Loki questioned him incredulously.  
  
“I would like to sleep without being interrupted with Thor’s snoring tonight so move it.” Tony demanded.  
  
“What?!” Before Loki could say more Tony grabbed the bed sheet from underneath Loki, causing him to roll onto the floor. Tony took Loki’s place on the bed, covering himself up with the bed sheets and promptly falling asleep. Loki was still sitting on the floor staring at Tony, finally, after a few seconds, Loki rose from the floor and made his way into Raina’s bedroom.  
  
“Rain,” Loki whispered into her ear as he lowered himself onto the bed beside her.  
  
“Guuhh? Loki, where’s Rae? What are you doing in here?” Raina managed to slur out in her still mostly asleep stature.  
  
“That fool of a Stark has presently removed me from my own room. I’ve decided that I shall instead be sleeping in here tonight.” Loki explained as he moved himself underneath the covers and pulled Raina closer to his body.  
  
“Mmmmm, okay...” Raina muttered back as she went back to sleep.  Rachel, who had gone to get water from the kitchen, came back into the room a few minutes later.  When she found Loki in her spot, her eyes widened.  
  
“What the hell Loki?”  She questioned angrily.  
  
“I have been evicted from my room, so I came in here.”  
  
“By who?”  
  
“Stark,” He answered tiredly.  
  
“Well then why the hell aren’t you in his bed?”  
  
“I am tired Rachel, please allow me to sleep here tonight.”  Rae sighed, “Fine,” she grumbled.  Rachel walked out of Rain’s room and into Loki’s room.  
  
“Tony.”  Rachel said and got no response.  
  
“Tony,” she said louder.  
  
“What?”  He snapped turning and looking at her  
  
“Go the fuck back to your bed, I need a place to sleep.”  
  
“Find somewhere else,” Tony said, rolling back over.  Rachel made a noise of frustration and walked back down the hall, and to her room.  She opened the door and turned on the bedside lamp.  She saw Steve sprawled out in the middle of the bed.  
  
“Steve.”  
  
“Steve, wake up.”  She shook him lightly.  
  
“Steve, the bed is on fire, you have to get up!” Rae yelled.  Steve bolted upright, his hair slightly disheveled.  
  
“What?”  He looked around the room and saw no indication of fire, “I don’t understand.”  Rachel chuckled slightly at his confusion.  
  
“Just kidding.  Move over, I need a place to sleep.”  Steve stared blankly at Rae for a second before complying.  
  
“Why aren’t you sleeping with Raina?”  He asked sleepily.  
  
“Loki’s sleeping with her.”  
  
“What?”  Steve asked, more alert.  Rachel sighed as she plopped down on her bed, “Tony kicked Loki out of his room and Loki kicked me out of Rain’s and I couldn’t kick Tony out of Loki’s room.  So here I am.”  

“It still doesn’t make sense,” Steve said as he settled in on the opposite side of the bed.

“You’re just tired,” Rachel commented as she got under the covers and lay down, “It makes perfect sense.”

“Okay,” Steve yawned.  Part of him was questioning whether or not he should stay, but the other part, the tired part, said that he shouldn’t care because he was in the wrong century and no one else would.

In his sleep, during one of his lesser nightmares, Steve reached out and was comforted to find Rachel there causing him to be quick to pull her within his grasp, desiring the security that she was providing for him to remain.  The next morning he wouldn’t be sure if it was just his imagination or a fact that Rachel held onto his hand when he had wrapped his arm around her or whether or not she really smelled like vanilla and rosemary. When Steve _did_ wake up, he realised that Rachel was nowhere to be found, he hadn’t been aware of her alarm going off and Rachel quickly but carefully sliding out of Steve’s grasp before silently getting ready for the day and slip out of the room, but what he did know was that he missed her when she was gone.


	25. Chapter 25

The Avengers woke up late and were rather surprised when Rain and Loki were in the kitchen making breakfast together. Raina turned around to see Clint, the last one to wake up, heading into the kitchen and said, “Oh good, I was about to go wake you up.  Breakfast’s ready everyone.”  They all relocated into the dining room with all of the food.  
  
“Where’s Rachel?” Steve asked.  

Rain looked up with confusion, “She didn’t tell you?  She’s visiting with her family for the day.”  
  
“She’s never done that before.” Natasha said, thinking that she was about to thwart a plot.  
  
“Yeah, well, it’s kinda hard to get out of the city, so she only does it on the weekend and she’s been busy with all of us.”  Suddenly the Avengers and Loki felt uncomfortable with the fact that they had been keeping her away from her family.  
  
“Oh,” Bruce said, “Does she go often?”  

Raina shrugged, “About once a month.”  Rain looked around at all the faces, “Oh for God’s sake, don’t say anything about it to her; she feels guilty for not going more even though she talks to her them once a week.”  
  
“Why didn’t she say anything before?” asked Tony.  
  
“Please,” Raina said while rolling her eyes, “You guys should know her well enough by now, she’d never say anything.”  
  
“How many visits has she missed?” asked Natasha.  
  
“Just one.”  
  
“Why did she-”  
  
“No more questions,” Raina said while cutting Thor off, “If you want answers, then ask Rae yourself.  Oh, and no one gets her bed tonight.”  

Tony groaned, and then said, “I call Loki’s room.”  Loki huffed at him, “Fine, then I’ll just share with Rain again.”  
  
“I’m taking the last upstairs room,” Bruce said quickly, looking over at Natasha, who just nodded.  Raina laughed.  “Now that we have room arrangements down, we can do other stuff.”  
  
“Like what?” Clint asked.  
  
“It’s not supposed to rain today.  Pool party!”  
  
Everyone had been tired out by Rain in the pool, however, Steve was still up and wondering exactly how far away Rachel’s siblings were and what happened to her parents.  He knew that he wasn’t going to sleep until she got back.  When he heard the door open, his head whipped around to see a slightly flustered Rachel.  He jumped up and went to meet her.  
  
“Do you need any help?” He asked.  
  
“No, I’m fine,” She responded breathlessly, “The cabbie was an ass though.” Steve chuckled.  
  
“Where is everyone?”  
  
“Asleep.”  
  
“It’s only eleven.”  
  
“We were with Raina all day in the pool.”  
  
“Ah, that explains everything,” Rachel said as she dropped her stuff into the kitchen, “Except for why you’re still up.”  
  
“You really can’t figure out why?” Rachel looked up at Steve for a second, then smiled, “Oh, well, thanks.”  
  
“No problem.”  
  
“Do you know if I still have a place to sleep?” Rae asked with trepidation.  
  
“Yeah,” Steve started, “Rain had us leave your room open for you.”  
  
“Sweet,” Rachel said as she started putting things up.

 

“Where does this go?” Steve asked, picking up a box of macaroni.

 

“Oh, you don’t have to-” Rachel’s words were cut off when Steve gave her a look that said, “Shut up and let me help.”

 

“In that cupboard,” Rachel said, indicating where the food was supposed to go.  

When they finished putting things up Steve, though he clearly didn’t want to, said, “Well, I’ll let you go to bed.”

Rachel smiled at him, “Oh no you don’t. You’re up, I’m up, we might as well keep each other company. Come on!”  Rachel said, taking Steve’s hand and pulling him upstairs.    
  
“Where are we going?”  
  
“My room!” Rachel said as she pulled Steve in after her.  
  
“Why your room?” he asked as Rachel released him.  

“Just cause,” She said as she took off her jacket.  Steve sat down on the chair in the corner of the room.  
  
“Are you okay?” Steve asked.  Rachel looked up at Steve.  
  
“Let me take a shower and then get back to you on that.”  Steve stood up to leave before Rae stopped him. “I’ll just take my pajamas into the bathroom and change there,” Rachel said, moving into the bathroom before Steve could object.  Steve only had to wait ten minutes before Rachel re-emerged from the bathroom, slightly damp in a tee-shirt and pajama shorts.  
  
“I was cleaning and mowing the lawn all day.”  Rachel explained to Steve, who nodded.  
  
“So, _are_ you okay now?”  
  
Rachel sighed, “I don’t go visit Jess and Dom that much because they’re far away, and I feel guilty for not visiting often.  It’s a vicious cycle.”  Rachel turned on one of the lamps beside the bed and turned off the overhead light.  
  
“Why are you on the chair?”

Steve looked pointedly at her, causing Rachel to smile reassuringly and take his hand, pulling him off the chair.  She pulled him onto the bed with her.  
  
“It’s not the 1940’s anymore,” Rachel said quietly.  
  
“You just want to focus on someone else’s problems.” Steve stated.  

Rachel smiled, “But I’m _so_ good at that.” Steve adjusted his position on the bed so that he was facing Rachel.  
  
“You’ve tried to help everyone here,” Steve started, “And Raina told us that you put off your trip to your family until you made sure that we were going to be okay without you.  It’s your turn to talk about what’s going on with you.”  Rachel sighed, she knew he was trying to help and be sensitive about this at the same time and, for reasons that she wouldn’t admit, Rachel was finding herself inclined to talk to Steve about her problems.  
  
“I just wish that things were different.  I’m trying to be a good person, which in nature requires a certain degree of selflessness and live my life the way I want, which requires selfishness.  It’s really more difficult than you’d think.” She said chuckling.  Steve smiled sympathetically, “I kinda understand what you mean.”  
  
“What’s it like?”  
  
“You’re changing the subject again, but what?”  
  
“Living in the 1940’s and waking up in 2012.”

Steve blinked and then sighed, “If I answer your questions, you’ll answer mine,” He stated. She nodded, agreeing to his terms.  
  
“Okay.”  Steve took a deep breath and then started, “In my time, people were different; there were rules that people followed, and values that were upheld.  There wasn’t as much stuff to distract you from your life.  People actually spent time together, there were always exceptions to the rule, but people seemed to be focused on something else, and I’m not just talking about the war; people seemed more united than they do now.  Every one's got their own world now and no one cares about their neighbours anymore.” Rachel just sat and listened to him and watched as Steve’s eyes grew distant.  “But it doesn’t really matter now; I’m here, so I need to try to make the best of it,” Steve focused back on Rachel, “So explain to me _why_ you feel so guilty for not visiting your family.”  
  
“They’re all alone” Steve nodded as Rachel continued, “My mother and their father, and their older brother were killed in various accidents, so they were left with me.  Jessica didn’t even like me.  And Dom still doesn’t want to be around me.”  
  
Steve felt sympathetic for Rachel’s situation; he had no idea how that would feel to be responsible for someone else.  
  
“I’m so sorry.”  
  
“It’s not your fault.  It’s just hard, you know?  I want to be there to take care of them, but most of the time I feel like I’m hated for it. I mean, I know they want me there for a few of the milestones, like Jess’s prom or Dom’s academic achievement award, but other than that, it’s like they don’t really want anything to do with me.”  Steve nodded, though Rachel wasn’t looking at him.  He reached for and held one of her hands.  “Thanks Steve.”  Steve looked back up at Rachel in confusion, “For what?”  
  
“For listening.”  Steve nodded, “I wish I could do more.”  
  
“Just being here is good enough for me.  Normally I wouldn’t tell anyone and then go and drink till I couldn’t feel anything.  So, while you’re here, it’s appreciated.”  
  
“I could stay here.” Steve ventured after a moment, “For whenever you need someone to talk to.”  

Rachel smiled sadly, “No you can’t.”  
  
“Why not?”  
  
“You have to go back.”  Steve frowned at her; there was no way he’d ask her to leave her family behind.  “I don’t want to if you’re not going to be there,” he admitted after a few seconds of silence.  

Rachel shrugged, “Maybe you could find your world’s version of me.  I bet she doesn’t have as many problems as I do.”  

Steve smiled, “Rachel, if it’s not you, then I don’t have any interest.”  Steve frowned almost immediately after finishing his statement, causing Rachel to ask, “What?”  
  
“It just seems like I meet the perfect woman but then we don’t get the chance to have a life together.  It just doesn’t feel,” Steve paused, trying to think of the right word.  
  
“Fair?” Rachel suggested.  
  
“Something like that.  So, what happened to your parents?”  Rachel frowned and moved away from him a little bit, “That’s a long story.”  
  
“I’ve got time,” Steve encouraged.  
  
Rachel sighed and then started her explanation, “My father got gunned down because the cops thought that he had robbed a jewelry store and he was trying to explain that he was trying to get home to his family when they opened fire. I was eight.”    
  
Rachel looked up at Steve, “He was innocent by the way, they just assumed _he_ had done it because he was black. Though, I will admit that he did have some sort of a record and I _think_ the cops did know that when they shot him.”  Rachel sighed as Steve frowned, Bruce’s words running through his mind.

“That doesn’t make it any better.”  
  
“I know,” Rachel laughed, “When I was fifteen, my mom and step-father were killed in a car accident; there was an eighteen wheeler that smashed into them, it had been snowing and it turned to ice and the driver just couldn’t stop in time.”    
  
Steve’s eyes widened, “I’m so sorry.”  

Rachel let out a hollow laugh, “Not done yet.  I had an older step-brother, Michael; he used to ride a motorcycle.” Steve sighed, knowing what was going to happen next.  
  
“One day,” Rachel said, “He was riding in the mountains-full gear, helmet and everything- and someone pulled out in front of him suddenly and he crashed.”  Rachel looked back at Steve, she looked like she was about to cry, “He was in the hospital for two weeks before he died. I was eighteen. There’s nothing quite like seeing a twenty three year old who was so vibrant and full of life become broken in almost every way imaginable.”  
  
Steve sighed, “I thought _I_ knew something about loss.”

Rachel laughed, “No, I just have a different kind of loss than you.”

 As Steve pulled her closer, he realized that the reason she acted older than she was because she had been taking care of herself and others for _years_.  
  
Rae smiled as she pulled out of the hug, “This is all getting too depressing, what do you say to pulling a prank on Rain and Loki?”  Steve stared at her in shock for a moment, “I don’t think that-”  
  
“Well, don’t think, just do,” Rachel said standing up and grinning at Steve, “This is going to be so much fun.”  Steve shook his head at her immaturity, “But aren’t you worried about retaliation?” Rachel laughed, “You know nothing about prank wars; we’ll just pin it on someone else.  I’m thinking Tony.”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“He got me kicked out of my room the other night.”  Steve finally cracked a smile, “Okay, what’s the plan?”  
  
+~*~+  
  
Raina woke up in the middle of the night and looked over to Loki, who was sleeping next to her.  For a second, she smiled, and then she noticed the eight-legged arachnid on Loki’s face.  Rain screamed and slapped at it.  She hit Loki right in the eye with her fist.  He opened his eyes, rolled out of bed and yelled out, “Why?”  
  
“There was a spider!” Raina said standing next to the bed.  
  
“And where is it now?”  He asked as he stood up.  Raina paused for a second and then turned on her bedside lamp.    
  
“Loki!” She screeched.  
  
“What is it?” he said with concern and exasperation evident in his voice.  
  
“I can’t find it.”  Loki rolled his eyes, “Can we just assume that it is dead?”  
  
“No!” Raina said, running for the door, she yanked it open and started to head out when she got caught in clear tape. “Ahh!”  Loki ran forward to see what happened to her as Steve and Rachel opened the door to her room.  
  
“Raina, what the hell?”  Rachel asked angrily.  She looked at her friend from across the hall and said, “What happened?”  
  
“S-spider.” Raina stuttered as Loki pulled tape from her hair and face.  
  
“Aw, poor baby,” Rachel said as she walked forward to embrace her friend.  By that time Tony and Bruce were in the hall asking what had happened as Steve explained the situation.  Tony immediately started laughing at Raina.  Rain, who was being held by Rachel shot Tony a glare. He stopped mid-laugh and took a step back.  Once Loki and Rachel had gotten all the tape off of Raina, Loki and Rain went downstairs to sleep on the couches.  When Rain and Loki went downstairs, Rachel ran into Rain’s room to retrieve the plastic spider from Rain’s bed.  
  
“I can’t believe you’re so good at lying to people.”  Steve said as she walked back into her room.  Rachel laughed, “Think about who I live with; of course I’m good at lying.” She shrugged, “It’s kinda a requirement with her.”  
  
+~*~+  
  
“Brother, why is your eye darkened?”  Loki sighed dramatically, “Because Raina hit me while trying to remove a spider from my face.’  
  
Tony laughed, “Are you sure that it was a spider?  And she wasn’t just punching you for fun?”    
  
Rachel rolled her eyes as Raina brought out food for everyone.  They ate in silence for a while, but became interrupted when Tony started coughing.  
  
“Oh what’s wrong Tony?” Raina asked in a scarily calm voice.  
  
“It’s hot.” Tony choked out.  Raina had put jalapeno peppers into Tony’s eggs.  
  
“But I thought you liked ‘Pepper,’ Tony.”  
  
“Why?” Tony coughed as Rachel gave him a piece of bread and a glass of milk.  
  
“I know you taped my door last night!” She accused.  Steve shifted uncomfortably while Rachel hid a smile.  
  
“Okay Raina,” Rae said seriously, “You got your retaliation. You’re done, understand?”  Raina frowned, but agreed nonetheless.  
  
“But I didn’t-”  
  
“Shut up Tony,” Rachel warned.


	26. Chapter 26

“Raina, shut up!” Clint yelled exasperated.  “You shut up; I’m trying to yell at the TV.”  Rachel chuckled at her friend before saying, “Rain, why don’t you just go into the other room?”  “But I wanna stay in here with everybody!” The young woman whined.    
“Rain-” Rachel started until they heard the doorbell ring.  Rain and Rachel looked at one another with wide eyes.  “Rain, did you secretly order something again?”  “No.  I openly ordered lingerie from Victoria’s Secret.  What the hell did you think I did?”  “Hey, remember that one time?”  Rachel asked, raising one of her eyebrows.  The doorbell rang once again.  “Okay, everyone upstairs.  We can’t let anyone see you. Hurry, I have to open the door.”  Rachel stood after extricating herself from Steve’s grasp.  Everyone, except for Rain and Rae, headed up the stairs quickly.  Rachel quickly grabbed all but two glasses from the coffee table and put them in the kitchen and then ran to the front door and opened it.  “Josh?” Rachel asked incredulously, “What the hell are you doing here? How did you find me?”  The man, Josh, was tall and muscular with brown hair and green eyes.  “Hey Rae, haven’t seen you in a while,” He said, as he ignored her questions.  Rachel could do nothing but stare at the man with a vacant look in her eyes.  Josh moved closer to Rachel, as she took a step backwards.  She looked helplessly for Raina, who had disappeared.    “What do you want Josh?”  Rachel asked, her voice hard and steely.  “I haven’t seen you in a while, and I thought I’d pay you a visit.”  “Why would you want to see me?  I don’t understand.”  “Hey, hey, why wouldn’t I want to see you?  You disappeared on me.” He said flirtatiously.  “I disappeared on you?  You’re the one who left me in that restaurant with no way to pay for the food!”  Rachel snapped.    “But babe-” he started.  Rachel reacted much like she did when she was angry with Rain.  “I don’t want to hear it.”  She said sharply.  “Thanks so much for dropping by, now if you’ll excuse me,” Rachel said, trying to slam the door shut.  Josh put his hand in the way, effectively stopping the door from fully shutting.  Raina walked up stairs and started gathering her knives.  “Should we stop her?”  Natasha asked, “She’s not even allowed a butter knife for breakfast.”  “And we know how violent she is.”  Clint added.  “Do you not hear Rae yelling down there?”  Bruce asked, “She needs some help.”  “And if we can’t do it,” Tony said, “Rain should.”  Raina walked past all of them, giving Loki a smile and said, “Thanks for your approval guys, not that I needed it.”  Rain took the stairs two at a time, and hit the living room just in time to see Josh stop the door from closing.  “Hey Josh!” Raina yelled, throwing a knife at the man.  Rachel stepped back just in time to avoid the knife.  “What the hell Rain?”  Rachel shrieked.  “I’m defending you!  You could be a little more grateful.”    
“You almost hit me!” Rachel yelled.   
“You should have better reflexes, living with me.”   
Raina turned her attention back to Josh and said, “If you don’t get your sorry ass off my property, I’m going to cut you.”  Josh looked livid with Rain’s challenge.  “You’re not a part of this conversation, so back the fuck off,” Josh said.  “Hey, don’t you fucking talk to her that way,” Rachel growled.  Raina moved forward with another knife in her hand.  “Get. The fuck. Out.”  She walked up to Josh and though she only came up to his chest, Raina looked menacing.  “Rain.”  Rachel said, putting her hand on Rain’s shoulder, “Let me handle this. Please.”  Rain nodded after a second.  Rachel forced Josh out of the doorway and onto the porch.  “I’ll be waiting,” Rain called, “And watching.”  “What do you want Josh?” Rachel said crossing her arms, “Really?”  “I want you back.”  Rachel’s eyebrows raised in disbelief.  “Bullshit!”  They heard Raina call from inside.  As Josh led Rachel off the porch and into the yard, the Avengers and Loki came down the stairs.    “What happened?” Bruce asked, walking into the entertainment room where Rain was currently looking out of the window.  “I threw a knife at him and she took him outside.  He says that he wants her back but he’s a fucktard so, they’re not going to get together again.”    “What if she wanted to get back together?”  Loki asked, enjoying the distressed look that adorned Steve’s face.  Raina turned a complete one eighty in order to glare at Loki, “Shut up, he’s a dick Loki.”  She turned back around to peek out of the window to see Rachel glaring at Josh.  Rain opened the window in order to hear what they were saying, but not before threatening the group to remain silent.  They heard Josh say that he didn’t know what to do without her.  “Oh, well you seemed to do alright without me for the past few months.”  “Yeah, but things changed.  I’ve changed.”  Josh moved towards her, Rae mirrored his movements, but in reverse, she backed away.  “Yeah, so have I, and I don’t want you around me.  At all.”  “Seriously!  Get lost loser!”  Raina shouted from the window.  “Why must we be silent if you are not,” Thor questioned.  “We don’t want anyone to know you’re here.  They already know I’m here,” Raina explained quietly.  When Rachel heard Rain’s comment, she started giggling.  “Oh, I think you haven’t changed,” Josh said angrily, “You’re still hanging around that lesbian slut of yours.  You still letting her control you?”  Rachel stared at Josh in disbelief while Raina propelled herself out of the window.  “Are you fucking kidding me?”  Rachel asked finally.  They both hear a battle cry and turned just in time to see Raina heading for Josh.  Rachel, who had lived with Rain for a long time, had quicker reflexes and backed away just in time, Josh, however didn’t move at all, allowing Raina to hit Josh at full force.  They both hit the ground hard.  Josh got the wind completely knocked out of him.  “Are you crazy?  You’re sending your hound dog after me?”  He directed his questions at Rain and Rachel respectively.  “Josh, just don’t.  We don’t want you here, what did you even come here for anyway?  Didn’t my not responding to your calls clue you in?”  Rachel asked exasperatedly.  “Oh my Odin Rachel, are you stupid?”  Raina asked, finally standing up, “He didn’t want to be with you when you were poor, but now that we’ve made all this money and move into a big house, he shows up?  He wants your money dumbass.”  Rachel felt pretty idiotic that Rain had to explain everything to her, but Raina usually did have to.  “That’s not true,” Josh said, standing as he did, “I love you Rachel.”  “No you don’t.  You never did. And you know what? I didn’t love you.”  Rachel ran her hand through her hair, “I thought you were here to give me back my mother’s ring, you know, the one you stole from me right before you broke up with me?”  Josh looked down at the ground.  “Uh, no I-”  “I can’t believe you thought I wouldn’t find out.  What did you do with it?”  “I pawned it.”  Rachel punched Josh in the face.  Josh’s nose started bleeding immediately, his nose was obviously broken.  “You little bitch!” He hissed.  “Josh, get the hell out before I call the police.”  Josh glared at her.  “Fine.”  He stormed off.  Rachel looked at Raina and laughed.  “You punched him!  I can’t believe you broke his nose!”  Rain joined Rachel in laughter, “I’ve wanted to do that for ages.”  They walked back into the house, where they were assaulted with questions.  “What just happened?”  “Why didn’t you just stab him?”  “Are you two okay?”  “I don’t understand what happened!”  “Holy fuck, you broke his nose!”  “You could’ve just shot at him, why didn’t you do that?”  “Guys, calm down,” Rachel begged, “Can we get a second to breathe?”  The group immediately stopped speaking and let the girls get settled in the living room.  “I didn’t stab or shoot him because I could’ve gone to jail.” Raina said, addressing Clint and Natasha’s respective questions, and because of Rain’s comment, the tension in the room went down considerably.  “So are either of you going to explain this?” Tony asked.  “Oh, yeah,” Rain said, “That asshole was Josh, Rae’s sleazy ex-boyfriend.  He’s a terrible person that no one likes.”  Rachel rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything. “He’s always been creepily obsessed with her and that’s why he hates me so much, I take up too much of her time.  And he’s just an attention whore.”  The group looked at Rachel for a better and more in-depth answer.  Rachel just shrugged and said, “She pretty much hit the nail on the head there.”  “But, why is he still coming around?”  “He’s a persistent fuck.” Raina answered, rolling her eyes.  “Yeah, but how did he find us again?”  “You mean you,” Raina said, “And I have no idea.”  “It doesn’t matter,” Rachel said, causing everyone else to stare at her, “As long as he doesn’t come back.”  The Avengers and even Loki smiled sadly at her, unsure of what to say.  Thankfully, Raina said, “Well, I’ve worked up an appetite while trying to kill people, anyone hungry?”


	27. Chapter 27

Later that night, as Rachel was sitting in her bed, painting her toe nails, she couldn't help but feel grateful toward Rain for the distractions after the Josh incident and keeping the attention away from Rae. She had seen the look on everyone's faces and had stayed long enough to make them feel better before quickly and quietly escaping to her bedroom. Rachel was just finishing her last coat of paint when she heard a knock at the door.

"Come in."

"Hey," Steve said as soon as he opened the door, "Do you mind if I come in?"

"Not at all," Rachel smiled.

Steve smiled and walked into the room, closing the door behind him.

"How are you doing?" Steve asked, "After..everything."

"Oh," Rachel said, putting her bottle of polish on her nightstand, "I'm fine."

"You say that a lot."

"You don't have to stand," Rachel commented.

Steve's cheeks tinged pink as he sat in the chair in the corner of her room. "Right," he said, "You know, it's still difficult to get used to being in your room while you're in pajamas."

Rachel laughed, "No, I hadn't realised that. You know, you can just sit on the bed, it's fine."

Steve sighed before standing up and walking over to the bed, sitting on the opposite side as Rachel and facing her, "Tell me how you're feeling, honestly."

Rachel laughed, "Honestly, I'm still concerned with the fact that he found me; it's not like Rain and I broadcasted where we were going to go after we graduated."

"Oh."

Rachel looked up at Steve, "Josh was a mistake. He was the first person I met out of high school who seemed nice and he really seemed like he liked me and I didn't know him like I do now."

"I thought you said you knew him before you graduated."

"I met him in college," Rachel said, "I have a Bachelor's degree in English, with a concentration in creative writing and a minor in French."

"Wait, how old are you?"

"I'm twenty two; I just graduated in May."

Steve's eyes widened, "Wow."

"Yep, you learn something new every day."

"Then how did Raina get her degree?"

"Oh, she was lucky, she skipped a grade when she was younger, so we met on our first day of high school when she moved to where I lived, and because we became so close, we decided to go to college together, she's got a Bachelor's degree in English, with a concentration in film studies and a minor in global studies, specifically Norway."

"You guys went to college, that's impressive."

"Thanks," Rachel said, smiling, "It wasn't easy, but we did it. We're really proud."

Steve smiled, "Is college where you learned to change the subject so easily?"

"Damn, I was hoping you wouldn't notice," Rachel joked.

"But I did. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine, but don't just try to change the subject on me."

"I'll try to remember that," Rachel smiled, "I just don't really know where to start."

"How about the beginning?"

"Oh," Rachel said, "Well, I was almost nineteen and he just came out of nowhere and he told me I was pretty and I just went with it."

"Went with it?" Steve repeated with confusion.

"Yeah, I don't think I ever really loved him, but he stuck around and watched me date other people, all the while telling me that I was pretty," Rachel explained, frowning at the memory, "Literally nothing except for the fact that he said I was pretty was the reason I finally went out with him."

"What's so special about him calling you pretty?" Steve asked, still feeling confused about Rachel's reasoning and starting to get a twinge of jealousy.

Rachel smiled, "Telling someone that you think they're hot or sexy says that you think they're fuckable, it's not a compliment, and not something that I appreciate unless I am trying to be sexy, but to tell someone they're pretty is a compliment to me and it says that a person probably cares a little more about my personality and less about my looks," Rachel explained, "And for about two years, he called me pretty, well, not just pretty, but he definitely excluded all terms that implied that he just wanted sex, so I figured, 'what the hell, he's been here forever and he's attractive and I can be around him for more than ten minutes without wanting to shoot myself.'"

"Not that I have much experience with dating, but those seem like the worst reasons I've ever heard to go out with someone."

Rachel chuckled, "Well I was young..er and hadn't had the experience of being with someone that I don't love."

"He treated you badly, didn't he?"

"Well, in some ways, yes, but he never hit me or anything, he would, however, put me down sometimes and he'd always say horrible things about Raina, so I decided that he wasn't worth my time right before he decided that I wasn't worth his, then I found out that he took my mother's ring right after he walked out on me at a restaurant and that was the end of that. I think I felt bad about him abandoning me for all of a week."

Steve frowned at Rachel, not knowing what to say to her. He was still thinking of how strange a thought it was for her to be involved with someone that she didn't really care for. "I don't really know what to say," Steve started, "I'm sorry that you were robbed of something that belonged to your mother."

"I know, but hey, you didn't do it, and I put myself in that situation when everyone around me was telling me to stay away from Josh, but I wanted to give him a chance."

"You give everyone a chance," Steve said, his voice full of admiration, "And I like that about you."

"Sometimes it becomes a fault," Rachel mumbled.

"We all have good and bad qualities Rae," Steve smiled.

"I just wish he'd leave me alone; he was never there for me and Rain's right, he only came back because I have money now."

"You didn't before?"

"No," Rachel laughed, "I was a college student who was trying to help pay for her younger siblings and take care of Rain. My funds were always exhausted."

"But you made it through."

Rachel smiled at Steve, "You know, most people say that they're sorry, but you always find the positive."

Steve smiled at the compliment, "Looking at the positive is one of the best ways to keep moving on."

"I think it makes it even more impressive that you do it while depressed," Rachel said, intending it as a compliment.

Steve looked up at Rachel with shocked eyes, "I'm not," Steve started, but not being able to finish his statement.

"You're human Steve, of course you are. You literally lost everything that you knew," Rachel frowned, realising that Steve probably hadn't thought about it and feeling guilty for bringing it up before he had had the chance to think on things for himself.

Steve sighed and dropped his eyes, "I know, but I was always told that I was meant for something more, so maybe this is it."

"I know; Peggy told you."

"It's so easy to forget everything when I'm with you," Steve started, making Rachel confused as to where he was going in his speech, "I forget about being in the wrong time, because you don't patronize me, I forget about being in the wrong reality because I'm having so much fun, and the easiest thing to forget is that you know everything about me."

"Not everything," Rachel corrected, "Just most things."

Steve smiled briefly, "I just wanted to do my part and help my country."

"You did. Even here, during World War II, that's when they first started printing your comics; to give America a new hope during the war and inspire people to do what they could to help. And you still are. You just got done saving the world Steve."

"Not here."

"No, you only inspired millions of people. America's waging a war right now Steve."

"I appreciate that, but everything that's decades old to you, that you weren't even around for, was just a few months ago for me. Everything is still fresh for me."

"I know, well I don't know how that feels but I know."

"Yeah," Steve frowned, "The movies."

"No, you run in your sleep."

"What?" Steve asked with shock.

"You run in your sleep unless you're holding onto something."

"How?" Steve asked, thinking back to the first night that he and Rachel had shared her bed.

"One of the first nights that you slept on the couch in the living room; it was like four in the morning and I had come down stairs and you were running. I was going to wake you up but you grabbed my wrist and then stopped running."

Steve stared at her in shock, "That day that I woke up with a pillow in my arms?"

Rachel nodded.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

Rachel looked at him as if the answer was obvious, "Because we had just met and that's a pretty heavy topic to discuss with a stranger, even with our circumstances; I figured that you wouldn't want to talk about it and I thought that if you did, I'd tell you. And I mean, you kinda had other things to worry about, being in a new reality and all that. I didn't think you needed the extra stress."

Steve felt a sudden rush of gratitude, admiration and a new appreciation towards Rachel, "I- I don't know what to say."

"Say whatever you want, whatever you're feeling."

The first words that popped into Steve's mind were 'I love you,' but he pushed passed those and found something else, "I can't believe you're that thoughtful."

Rachel smiled, "It's not exactly thoughtfulness, I know very well that people don't like to talk about things until they're ready to, and the last thing to do would have been to try and push you."

"I didn't know I was actually running."

Rachel waited a few seconds before quietly asking, "What do you dream about?"

"All of it," Steve supplied after a few seconds, "Fighting, becoming what I am now, Peggy, all of the deaths, the ones I was there for and the ones I wasn't, flying a plane into the ocean, waking up, being in a different century, trying to figure out if I want to find a place in this time or if I'd rather go back to mine, mainly just a constant pain at the fact that I can't. I literally chase the past during those dreams."

Rachel watched with concern as Steve's eyes grew stormy and distant while he spoke, she could almost see everything that he was talking about reflected in them. Rachel waited a few seconds after he finished speaking before reaching across to him and picking up his hand, "Steve," she said quietly, bringing him out of his nightmares and back into the room. Steve shifted his eyes to Rachel's and he smiled slightly, "The memories will eventually fade and, who knows, I might not run anymore."

Rachel laughed humourlessly, "You have an eidetic memory Steve; you'll never forget any of it."

"Well then I'll just hope that I always have something to hold onto."

Rachel smiled, "While you're here, you can have me."

Steve quickly returned the smile, "Thanks."

"Anytime." They sat together in silence for a few minutes until Rachel picked up her head and said, "Can I ask you something?"

Steve feigned concern, "I don't know; your questions are pretty personal."

"Oh, well, never mind then," Rachel said, pretending to have her feelings hurt.

"Go ahead," Steve returned more seriously.

"Will you do me the honour of letting me be your first dance partner?"

Steve looked at Rachel, surprised at the question, "I know that you already know, but I couldn't dance in the past and I definitely don't know any type of dances now."

"I wasn't planning on a song that we'd need to do any modern dancing on," Rachel smiled.

"Are you sure? I might step on your feet."

"You'll do fine, I'll lead."

Steve smiled, slightly embarrassed, "Sure Rae."

Rachel's eyes brightened up, "Okay, I have the perfect song," she said as she reached next to her bed for her laptop.

"You keep it next to your bed?"

"I'm a writer."

Steve laughed, "Is that supposed to be an explanation?"

"Yeah, I never know when I'm going to get an idea, so I keep Remus with me all the time."

"You named an inanimate object?"

"Yep," Rachel said, opening up the lid over her laptop, "After my favorite Harry Potter character, Remus Lupin. He's a werewolf."

Steve looked at Rachel with concern, causing her to laugh, "You're thinking that I might be the crazy one instead of Rain."

"I didn't say that," Steve joked.

"But you were thinking it. Okay, I apologise for the crappy sound quality, the speakers on my laptop aren't that great and I'm not getting them from Rain's room."

Steve chuckled, "I'm sure it'll be fine."

Rachel smiled at him, "You say that now," she joked.

"I thought that you had a laptop for music."

"I do."

"Then why do you have music on your writing laptop."

"I have a fraction of my music on this laptop," Rachel said as she gestured to Remus, "Everything else is on that one," she pointed to the one on her desk.

"Oh."

"Yeah, I mean, if I wasn't so lazy, I'd get an external hard drive with at least three terabytes of memory, but-" Rachel stopped when she saw the look on Steve's face.

"I don't know what you just said."

Rachel laughed, "If it makes you feel better, most people don't know what a terabyte is."

"It doesn't."

"Okay, well, you know we started with records, thrity three and a third, then went to forty fives, then we had eight tracks, then cassettes, then CDs, which is where we go digital and have music available on files, generally mp3s and we can put them on ipods and whatnot, so then everything gets tracked with how many megabytes something is, then gigabytes, then terabytes. So to put it in perspective, a song is about 3 megabytes and there are one thousand megabytes in a gigabyte and one thousand gigabytes in one terabyte."

"That's a lot of music."

Rachel grinned at him, "I know, and then laptops and computers have a hard drive, a place to hold all the memory of the computer, and those are generally about four gigabytes, so that laptop over there has about fifteen or so, I can't really remember."

"Wow."

"Yep, enough technology talk; let's dance," she said as she set her laptop on the bed and stood up, Steve following suit.

"Okay," Rachel said, walking over to Steve and taking his left hand, "This hand on my waist," she said as she placed his hand on her hip, "And," she took his right hand, "We hold hands, out like this."

"Okay," Steve said, doing what Rachel told him.

"So," Rachel started as she placed her hand on Steve's shoulder, "You step forward with your right."

"Okay," Steve followed.

"So we're circling in a square."

"What?"

"Um, the pattern we're doing while we dance. We're dancing in a square, but doing a circle as we do that."

"Um," Steve started unsurely.

"It'll make more sense when we actually do it, so take a step forward," Rachel instructed.

"Okay," Steve said, taking a step forward as Rachel mirrored his movements in reverse.

"Now the other foot."

"Okay."

"And now we're turning slightly as you take another step forward."

Steve smiled as he did what Rachel told him.

"Now the other foot."

"Okay."

"And turn again."

"This isn't all that-"

"Wait till you start to go backwards, then say it," Rachel laughed.

"Oh."

"It really isn't that bad, I promise," Rachel said reassuringly.

They continued circling for a few seconds before Rae started to teach Steve the rest of the steps.

"Okay, that was a little more difficult," Steve said after their first failed attempt.

"But remember, I started out going backwards."

"Are you teaching me the lead?"

"Yep."

"I thought you were going to be the lead."

"I am leading; you're just doing the lead's steps."

Steve chuckled as they circled around a few more times before Rachel said, "I think we can do with some music."

"I forgot about that."

"Yeah well, I have a playlist of semi dancy songs."

"A playlist?"

"Yep, eleven songs," Rachel said as she let go of Steve and leaned across the bed to get her laptop and bring it closer to her. She turned up the volume and clicked the song to start. As it started, Rachel and Steve got back into their positions and they started dancing. Steve was surprised to hear that it was so slow and soft; making it feel familiar to him though he was sure it had been done by someone after he had been frozen alive.

"It's called 'P.S. I love you;' this version's by Nellie McKay, but it was originally recorded in 1934. This is a 2007 remake, but I heard it in the nineties with Bette Middler, doing a movie called For the Boys, which was about World War II."

"It's pretty sad," Steve said.

"I like to think of it as melancholy," Rachel smiled, "It's sad but sweet and longing and I always thought that it was a perfect example of what it's like to be in love. She's talking about all the normal things that she does in the day, but somehow it's better when she tells the person she's writing to that she loves them."

Steve smiled at the amount of thought that Rachel had put into the song and the simple and honest lyrics. The first song stopped and another one came on, they had to adjust their pace a little, as it was faster and they just started twirling, not bothering with going the full eight steps.

"Who are Jack and Sally?"

"Oh, they're kinda supposed to be an ideal couple for punk kids, like me," Rachel joked.

"Um."

"They're like the ideal couple for people who are not exactly the mainstream. They're from a movie called The Nightmare Before Christmas."

"Ah."

"It's a little violent for a love song," Steve commented when he heard "catching things and eating their insides."

Rachel chuckled, "It's one of my favourites."

"Of course it is," Steve said as the space between them started to disappear and they slipped out of time with the music of the next song, 'Lullaby" by The Spill Canvas. The pair of them Iended up in an almost embrace as the song finished, Rachel's arms wrapping loosely around Steve's neck and his hands at her hips. Though Steve was enjoying his dance with Rachel, he couldn't help but feel melancholy himself as he thought about everything that he had lost, not just the people, but his comfort and, for a while, his purpose in the world. He felt that Rachel was right about how being in love did mean that the day was better just because of the other person, though he wasn't sure if that person was Rachel or Peggy. As he was thinking about all of those things, he didn't notice Rachel glance up at him until she asked, "Are you okay?"

They kept moving as Steve responded, "Yeah, just thinking."

"Should I ask about it or just leave it alone?"

"Just about everything. I'm," Steve paused, searching for the right word, "Conflicted," he finally settled on, though he didn't feel as though he had gotten it quite right.

"I understand," Rachel said, putting her head back on his shoulder as they continued to slowly dance.

"We've made it full circle," Rachel said when 'P.S. I love you' started playing again looking up at him as they paused their motions.

"One more song?" he asked.

"Sure."


	28. Chapter 28

"Where is Rain?" Loki asked coming down the stairs, seeing Clint, Natasha and Rachel in the living room.

"It's not supposed to rain today, it's going to be sunny," Rachel answered cheekily.

"That's not what I was talking about." Loki said angrily sitting on the armchair.

"I know." Rae said while mocking his tone, "She went out to buy fireworks this morning. Apparently she used them all."

As Loki chuckled, Clint said, "Wait, Raina's gone? By herself?"

Rae frowned, "Yeah, why are you getting so excited?"

"Because we're going to have a stress free day!" Clint exclaimed, "We're all together and Raina's gone!"

"She not that bad."

"Only because you're used to her."

"Seriously? It's been like a month, if you're not used to her by now…" Rae said.

"She's a little difficult to get used to, as she seemingly changes her personality daily." Natasha said.

"It only shows that she's versatile." Loki argued.

"Yeah," Rachel agreed, "Besides, no matter what day it is, you can always count on her being random."

"That is true," Thor said, coming into the room.

"But she does it so well." Tony said, laughing.

"That she does." Clint conceded.

"Okay, well, I'm going to make lunch, how's chicken and rice sound?" Once everyone in the room consented, Rachel stood up, but paused when Tony asked if she needed any help.

"Uh, yeah, I could do with some-" Rachel got cut off by Loki, who stood up and said, "I'll help you."

Rachel's mouth dropped open in shock, but after she recovered, she nodded and said, "Okay."

Rachel walked into the kitchen, with Loki trailing behind. "Why do you want to help me," Rachel asked as she got out a few chicken breasts and some rice, as well as a frozen bag of peas and carrots.

"It's what Rain would do," he answered simply, "Now, what can I do?"

Loki and Rachel were sitting in a comfortable silence while waiting for the rice to cool after chopping up and frying the chicken when Loki sat up straight and looked around

"What?" Rachel asked, thinking that he could actually hear Raina coming.

"I can sense magic," he said as he glanced across the hall to look at Thor.

"What do we do?"

Loki shook his head, "I know not; it does not feel the same as before." Rachel looked slightly panicked as she asked, "Could it be someone else? Odin?"

Loki shrugged, "I-" He was stopped by Natasha saying, "Thor, are you alright?" Loki and Rachel turned to see Thor standing in the living room with a vacant look on his face, his eyes having turned green. Loki glanced over at Rachel, "I think it's Amora, don't you?"

"Yes, but what do we do?" Rachel asked urgently as Thor headed towards the back door.

"Stop him," Loki commanded. Steve, Clint, Tony and Natasha grabbed Thor from behind, while Rachel, Bruce and Loki tried to impede his movements from the front. They couldn't stop him for long because Thor's own strength was now combined with Amora's magic, making Thor a seemingly unstoppable force. He easily shrugged off Natasha and Tony and pushed his way past Bruce and Loki. Rachel had thrown herself against the door and Thor was struggling with Clint and Steve.

"Brother!" Loki yelled, trying to get him from under Amora's spell. Thor eventually threw Steve and Clint off of him. He walked up to Rachel who held her ground, but looking unsure about her decision to do so. "Thor, I don't want to hurt you." Amora, through Thor, laughed; it was a cold and heartless laugh with Amora's own echoing Thor, a disturbing sound to hear. Rachel suppressed a shiver as Amora spoke through Thor, "And how are you going to stop the God of Thunder and The Enchantress mortal?"

Any fear that Rachel had quickly dissolved as she was addressed as 'mortal,' it reminded her too much of the way Loki acted around her when he first got here. "Like this," she said to the advancing Thor. He was within six inches of her as she swiftly, and with experience, thrust the heel of her hand into his nose; at the same time, she did something that caused all of the men to wince in sympathy, she kneed Thor in the groin.

Thor blinked from the sudden pain, his eyes turning blue once again. Thor doubled over in pain and Rachel stepped forward, catching him, "I'm so sorry!"

Thor was leaning heavily on Rachel, causing her knees to buckle, "Uh, guys? A little help here?"

It took Clint, Steve and Bruce to get Thor over to the couch, where Loki explained what happened while Rachel continued to apologise profusely and Natasha gave him ice. Loki suddenly stood, "She's still here." Loki walked to the back door and looked over to everyone else, "Don't allow my brother to leave this house." Loki quickly exited the house, Rachel close behind.

"Amora!" The Enchantress was standing about six feet from the back porch.

"Yes dear Loki?"

"Leave my brother alone," Loki growled. Amora's head cocked and a sneer adorned her face, "That wasn't part of our arrangement Loki."

"Neither was taking me here. You broke our arrangement first, wench." Amora smirked as she paced along a seemingly invisible barrier, "You shouldn't have been so close to him when I transported him."

"Why can't she come any closer?" Rachel whispered into Loki's ear. He considered the possibilities, "My father must have located us, but has yet to reach us."

"Yes, Thor's father knows where he is," Amora said, "He's protecting him until he wakes from Odinsleep and can come retrieve you and Thor himself."

"So you can't come in," Rachel said, smiling, "You're like a vampire." Both Asgardians looked questioningly at Rachel before glaring at one another again.

"Leave Amora. You know what my father will do to you, should he find you here."

"I've got a little while longer before he wakes. I think I'll stay, see how long you can try and keep Thor from me." At that, Rachel and Loki heard the Avengers struggling with Thor once again.

"It's a siege," Rachel mumbled to herself, thinking of the ways to end one.

"What?" Loki asked, not hearing her.

"A siege, either you give up, or," she went back into the house for a moment and came back with Thor, "You attack." The rest of the Avengers had followed her out, still asking her what she was doing and if she was crazy.

"What are you doing?" Loki hissed, echoing Clint's question.

"Just trust me," she said, looking up at him. Loki sighed, but nodded his head, in that moment, she looked so much like Rain that he had no choice but to listen to whatever she said.

"Here he is; why don't you come get him?" Rachel asked while smirking at Amora, who glared at her.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Loki asked as Amora paced up and down the invisible line, attempting to will Thor to come to her. She was getting frustrated as she couldn't gain control of Thor's mind.

"Nope, but honestly, how long can she stay here?" Loki turned his head fully to stare at Rachel, "Are you insane?"

"No," Rachel said, smiling, "but she is." They all looked to see Raina running towards Amora at full speed.

"She really is a blunt force," Rachel said fondly as Rain tackled Amora to the ground.

"So you're sending her in the line of fire until you can think of something else?" Rachel glared at him, "I didn't see you come up with anything better," Rachel argued as Clint, Steve and Bruce rushed out to help Raina. "See, they're going to help her. Besides, it's not like I'm leaving her alone to die; she's just tackling people to the ground."

"Oh how thoughtful of you," Loki said as he walked out towards Rain, who, with the help of the boys, effectively pinned Amora down.

"Again, come up with something better," Rachel said as she stalked after Loki, "Make sure Thor doesn't go anywhere," She said to Tony and Natasha.

Amora, though outnumbered, was still putting up a fight as Rachel and Loki reached her.

"Get any good fireworks?" Rachel asked Rain with nonchalance.

"Yeah, a few."

"Can you two please focus?" Clint asked from the ground, "It's not like this is social hour."

"It matters not," hissed Amora, "What plans you have; Thor will be mine." Rachel frowned at her, "Shut up, why are you still here?" Everyone looked at Rachel with shock and in Amora and Loki's cases, rage.

"You left immediately last time, why aren't you poofing now?" Amora smiled wickedly at Rachel, then at Loki, "A smart one you have here Loki."

"So there is a reason you curse us with your continued presence here," Loki said, looking into her eyes.

"Yes," Amora had stopped struggling and thrown everyone off of her. She stood up and walked to Loki so that she was less than two inches from him, "I have a warning for you; beware what you bring into Asgard."

Loki stared at her, "I don't understand, what do you mean Enchantress. Speak plainly." Amora only smirked as she backed away and disappeared. Loki stared after her for a moment before remembering that Raina had been thrown some twenty feet. He looked over in the direction that she had gone, only to see Rachel there, helping her up.

"I am so sorry," Loki heard Rachel say, "You should've gotten out of there as soon as everyone else came in."

"What, and miss the fun?"

Loki was sitting in his room after the events of the day, it was nearing twilight and Raina had insisted on getting some fireworks ready, claiming that she had nearly died and deserved to blow off some steam. He was pondering Amora's words. He hadn't brought anything into Asgard since the Frost Giants; he was terrified that Amora was threatening Raina. He heard a knock at the door, and assuming it was Raina, answered, "Could you come back later love?"

The door opened as he assumed it would, revealing Rachel, not Raina. His eyes widened and his body stiffened, thinking that Rachel was going to attack him for his words. Instead, she smiled and joined him on the bed.

"How are you doing?"

"Are you trying to fix me again?" Rachel smiled, "If that's what you want to call it. You're worried."

Loki sighed, "Yes. Amora's words. I think, perhaps that she might have been referring to Raina."

"Me too."

Loki looked up at Rachel, the pain written in his eyes, "She should stay here."

Rachel rolled her eyes, "That's all kind and chivalrous of you, but she can make her own decisions."

"But I need to protect-"

"No you don't, you just need to care for her."

Loki smiled, "Thank you Rachel."

"No problem," Rachel smiled, "Now you better hurry before Rain comes up here trying to get you to come down for fireworks. She'll probably just drug you and drag your body downstairs."


	29. Chapter 29

The group had gotten a slow start to the day. Raina and Loki had been the first ones to awake and were currently just sitting on the couch watching television, of course by sitting meaning Raina had her legs propped up on Loki’s lap. Slowly, the rest of the members of the house joined them. It was almost noon when Rachel, the last up, finally came downstairs with her laptop.  
  
“Wow you actually slept in for once Rae.” Raina giggled as she watched the older girl sit down at the table, opening up her laptop.  
  
“Eh, you need to every now and then.” Rachel commented back.  
  
“Whatever you say yo.” The group sat in silence for several minutes, just watching mindlessly at the television screen. Suddenly, Raina grabbed the remote, in one swift movement. The suddenness of her action caused a few of the Avengers to jump. Clicking a couple buttons the television was turned to the weather channel. Rachel immediately began to groan as soon as she heard the meteorologist start talking.  
  
“Rain, for once, can we please not watch the weather channel?” Rachel begged her friend.  
  
“But what if there’s possible tropical storm development in the gulf? I have to know this stuff!” Raina shot back.  
  
“Yeah, I don’t think that’ll matter much with us being this far up north.” Clint commented, only to have a glare sent his way by Raina.  
  
“My TV!” Raina shouted possessively as she shoved the remote down her shirt.  
  
“That’s not right.” Tony said.  
  
“Seriously?” Bruce commented.  
  
“Hey rock of ages, you mind getting that for us?” Tony called to Loki who had been sitting there next to Raina watching the entertainment unfold.  
  
“What?” Steve’s face turned red at the thought of what Tony was telling Loki to do.  
  
“I’d rather not; I prefer to keep my hand attached to my arm.” Loki said. Rachel sighed as she rolled her eyes. She stood, as the rest of the group sat arguing about how to get the remote back, and walked over to Raina. The group stared in partial awe and partial ‘holy shit’ as Rachel’s hand dived into the front of Raina’s shirt, pulling out the hidden remote and turning it on to a cartoon channel. Rachel walked back over to the table with the remote and went back to her computer.  
  
“Do you two do that often?” Natasha asked, finally breaking the silence.  
  
“Only when she has something of importance that I need.”  
  
Raina burst into a giggle fit. Loki, who had been staring at her the whole time, was not really that surprised. He had nearly gotten used to Raina’s oddness.  
  
“That tickled yo! Ooooh, I like this show!”  Raina exclaimed as her attention was quickly turned to the television.  
  
“Her attention is that of a small infant, does Rain always act in this way?” Thor asked Rachel.  
  
“When she’s watching cartoons, yes.”  
  
“So uh, how often are you two having to go down each other’s shirts?” Tony asked. Steve, who was trying to take a sip of water immediately started to choke. Loki had been absentmindedly rubbing one of Raina’s feet stopped and jerked his head to look over at Tony. Raina still stared and giggled at the television, oblivious to everyone else around her. “It’s a fair question!” Tony defended against the looks.  
  
“Jeez Tony, cool it or you’re going to give Steve a heart attack.” Rachel told him.  
  
“This is nothing compared to a friend we had back in high school.” Raina spoke finally, still staring amusingly at the television. “She used to do this thing she called a ‘boob check’ where if you were wearing a low cut tee shirt she would shove her hand down the front of it while screaming ‘boob check!’ Needless to say we both stopped wearing low cut shirts around her after that.” The group sat in silence for a while after that. Raina repositioned herself on the couch to where she was now sitting on Loki’s lap. Minutes later Rachel closed her computer and came and sat on the couch in the spot where Raina had been, right next to Steve, who moved his arm and put it around her shoulders.  
  
“I spy with my little eye...” Raina started.  
  
“Oh no.” Rachel muttered.  
  
“Something that is of use only when you let it hang out.” Raina giggled. Everyone looked at her in confusion.  
  
“What?” Steve asked.  
  
“I do not understand?” Thor added.  
  
“That’s actually a good clue.” Bruce said.  
  
“Rain likes to be cryptic with her clues.” Rachel told them laughing.  
  
“Anyone? Anyone?” Raina asked. No one could come up with any answer, plus they were slightly afraid of finding out what the answer was in the first place. “Curtains!” Raina finally shouted.  
  
“That was a pretty good one.” Natasha admitted.  
  
“Okay, when is a king made of wood?” Raina asked again.  
  
“In the morning.” Tony said laughing. Rachel hit him in the back of the head. “Ow!”  
  
“Nope try again.” Raina laughed.  
  
“A king is made of wood when he is a ruler.” Loki finally answered.  
  
“Bingo! We have a winner!” Raina smiled proudly as she looked at Loki. “But really Tony? Really?” Raina started to laugh again.  
  
“It was a valid answer!” Tony defended. The group just burst into laughter.  After a while they finally stopped and quieted down. An eerie silence fell upon the group as they remembered that there was a chance that they would be forever separated. Raina snuggled closer to Loki as a feeling of dread washed over her; Rachel did the same with Steve. For the next few hours the group sat in the living room, watching television and just talking. The unsaid truth hanging in the air: none of them wanted to be separated from each other, least of all Loki from Raina because they knew that this wouldn’t last forever.  
  
+~*~+  
  
Later that night Loki and Raina lay together in the bed in embrace, kissing each other passionately. There was something in the air that told the two that tonight might be their last and they wanted to spend it wisely.  
  
“I wish this moment would last forever.” Raina finally said as she pulled away from their make-out session, looking down at him.  
  
“It will, don’t worry. I’ll take you back to Asgard with me. Surely with you by my side Odin will lessen whatever punishment he has in store and then once I’ve fulfilled that we can be together.”  
  
“I look forward to it.” Raina smiled as she leaned in for another kiss. Loki placed his hands onto her waist, pulling Raina closer to him. As the seconds pass their kissing become more passionate; Loki’s fingers became in her hair. Suddenly, Loki flipped Raina over onto her back. Their kissing intensified even more as Loki's hands soon found their way underneath Raina's shirt. Raina moaned lightly into Loki's mouth as his hands brushed the bottom of her breasts.  
  
Loki began massaging her breasts, causing Raina to buck her hips upwards; this time it was Loki's turn as he moaned into her mouth. Pulling one of his hands from out of Raina's shirt, Loki brought one of her legs up to encircle his waist; Raina following suit with her other leg.  
  
Raina was internally screaming, never could she even begin to fathom such a thing to happen to her and she was overly joyed. It was not until Loki began to pull her shirt off that she fully realized just what she was about to do.  
  
“Loki...” Raina attempted to say in between their kissing. “Loki...wait.” Loki stopped everything that he was doing and looked her in the eyes.  
  
“What's wrong my dear?” He asked softly, placing his forehead onto hers; both of them were breathing heavily.  
  
“I...I don't think I'm ready. I mean, I want to, but...” Raina turned her eyes away, too embarrassed to look directly at him.  
  
“Rain,” Loki started, placing a hand softly onto the side of her face; Raina finally turned to look back at him, “I've told you that I will always be there for you, if you don't think yourself ready, then I shall wait.”  
  
“Loki, thank you. I love you my god of mischief.” Raina whispered as she placed a chaste kiss on his lips.  
  
“I love you as well, my dear queen of chaos.” Loki whispered back, rubbing her cheek with his thumb.  
  
“Queen of chaos, I like it.” Raina chuckled as she snuggled into his embrace.


	30. Chapter 30

 Rachel shifted slightly to her left in an attempt to get comfortable, sliding her right knee up, only to meet resistance.

“Rachel,” Steve complained turning his head to look at her.  It was the third time that she had hit him with her knee.  The first time being in the groin, which is what swayed his decision to sleep on his back instead of his side.

“Sorry,” Rae said quickly, “I don’t know why, but I can’t get comfortable tonight.”

“Have something on your mind?” Steve asked, clicking on the bedside lamp and turning to face her.

“Nothing out of the ordinary,” Rachel smiled.

“Does that mean your near-crippling feelings of guilt for everything that you do mixed with your fears of things that may happen in the near future?”

Rachel laughed, “Actually, no.”

“Oh?” Steve asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Rachel confirmed and after a pause glanced up at him and said, “I was uh, thinking that I might possibly,” Rachel swallowed nervously before finishing her sentence, trying to slow her rapidly beating heart, “Be in love with you.”

Rachel watched nervously as Steve tensed and his playful demeanor disappeared. Steve first thought about his still conflicted emotions about his feelings for Peggy versus his feelings for Rachel, then about how he had had no idea about what the future held, only that they couldn’t have any future together, since he knew she wasn’t planning on going with him and he also thought about how he was still trying to work on being able to properly function in this time period.  All of those thoughts led him to one conclusion, and that was that he _hadn’t_ had enough time with Rachel and he _couldn’t_ even mention that he thought he could easily reciprocate her feelings.

“Rachel,” Steve started.

“I know,” she interrupted quickly; “I shouldn’t have said it.”

Steve sighed, but said nothing until he had collected his thoughts, “It’s not that Rae, it’s just that we haven’t known each other that long and I don’t know how long I’ll be here.”  Steve knew how weak his excuses were, but he didn’t want Rachel to feel bad about finally trying to express her emotions. He was also trying to convince himself that he was _not_ saying anything in order to protect them both, but he was having a difficult time of convincing himself. Steve was hoping that they’d both have an easier time after he left if he didn’t say anything.

“I know,” Rachel said with her eyes downcast.

“Rae,” Steve said, cupping her cheek in his hand and tilting her head back up, “If things were different,” he started, “If we were both in the correct reality for starters-”

“Steve,” Rachel interrupted her eyes lowering, “It’s _fine_.”

“Rachel,” Steve started quickly, “This is anything but fine. None of this is okay or,” Steve paused, looking for the right word, which Rae was quick to supply.

“Fair?”

Steve looked at her, “Yes. We deserve something better than this Rachel.”

“I wish you could stay here,” Rachel said, putting her hand over Steve’s.

“I offered,” Steve joked half-heartedly.

Rachel smiled, “But we both know you can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re needed over there more than you’re needed here.”

Steve nodded; he already knew that, he just didn’t want to hear it. He smiled emptily at Rachel before taking his hand off of her face. Rachel smiled back, her eyes glassing over with tears.

“But,” she started nervously, “ _If_ we didn’t have all this stuff-”

Rachel was cut off by Steve kissing her hard, desperately trying to convey all of his emotions without actually saying anything. When he pulled away, Steve had to stop himself from laughing at the look of shock on Rae’s face as he said, “Then that would be a different story.”

Rachel smiled at Steve for a moment, then looked back down, “But all we have is this one.”  Steve kissed Rachel on the forehead to hide his pained face from her, “I know.”

Rachel wrapped her arm around him and buried her face in his chest; she was tired and Steve had, without realising it, already broken her heart by not telling her that he loved her.  She didn’t even care if it would’ve been true or not; it was the first time that Rae had ever said it to someone outside of her family and she was devastated that he hadn’t said anything.

Steve sighed and turned off the light before wrapping his arm around Rachel.  He knew he had hurt her, though not the _extent_ to which he had, and he felt guilty about it.  Steve wanted Rachel to be happy and he recognised that she couldn’t be if she thought he was in love with her. He sighed again as he thought about Rachel finding someone else and hated that he had decided to be responsible and try and ensure that Rachel would be okay after he and everyone else had left instead of being selfish and telling her that he wanted to stay here with Rachel and just live.

Later, Steve heard Rachel, in her sleep, mumble something that sounded like a clearer affirmation of her feelings towards him and he tightened his grip on her, whispering that he was sorry and kissing her on the forehead before finally falling into a haunted sleep.

+~*~+

The morning was looking bright when Thor woke up.  He blinked a couple times before sitting up from the bed.  For the first time since he had been living in this alternative reality, he felt something akin to homesickness.  He missed being in Asgard; he missed his friends and family; he missed Jane.  He looked around, everyone else was still asleep.  Thor got up and walked into the kitchen; he needed some sort of sustenance.  Though he had been taught to use the coffee maker, he was still unsure of it, so he just got some cereal.  It wasn’t what he was used to, but he had grown to enjoy the sugary stuff that Rain bought.  Thor was almost finished with his second bowl when Rachel came down the stairs.  
  
“Morning,” she said sleepily.  She sat down at the table and opened her laptop, “How’d you sleep?”  
  
“Most fantastically on the bed that Raina bought me.”  Rachel rolled her eyes, “I’m not mad about the beds anymore Thor, you don’t have to keep saying that.”  He let out a hearty laugh, “Do we have any plans for this day?”  Thor asked.  Rachel shrugged, typing on her laptop, “It’s nice outside, I thought we could just hang out there today.”  Thor nodded.  
  
It was late afternoon when everyone else got up and decided to go outside, Rain was so excited, she didn’t bother getting dressed in anything other than a bathing suit.  She was the first one to the pool, uncovering it quickly and then jumping in.  Rachel stayed farther back, mentioning something about her hair and not wanting to ruin it.  Natasha and Clint eventually joined Rain in the pool of their own volition.  Loki ended up sitting on the edge of the pool till Rain pulled him in.  Tony had threatened Rain with her life should she try to pull him in too, so he got left alone, but Bruce however, was forced to give Rain a piggyback into the pool.  
  
“Rain,” Rachel scolded, walking closer to the pool, “He could’ve hit his head.”  She was careful to stay out of arm’s reach as she directed her attention to Bruce, “Are you okay?”  He nodded at her, “I’m fine,” He was grinning, “No harm done, seriously.”  Rachel nodded and walked back over to Steve and sitting next to him, having decided, once the morning had come, to forget and pretend that the night before hadn’t happened.  
  
As the day went on, it seemed to get _chilly_ in the summer air.  Rachel had gone back in the house a few times, grabbing extra clothes and towels for everyone.  No one wanted to go inside it seemed as though they had decided to stay out the rest of the day.  Rachel eventually had Tony help her with making an outside-friendly dinner of pizzas.  After dinner, everyone was sitting on the lawn, waiting for twilight, which is why it was a surprise when suddenly there was a blinding golden-white light that caused everyone to cover their eyes.  When the light went down slightly, they all looked and saw Odin standing in the light, which seemed to be emitting from him.  All of their mouths dropped open, but Thor was the first to speak, exclaiming, “Father!”  
  
The Avengers and Loki, to some extent, were initially glad to see Odin in their current reality, but then the realisation of what he was there for hit them all.  Though they had been merry seconds earlier, the stomachs of four people dropped when they saw the All-Father.  Loki unconsciously took a step away from his adoptive father and moved his arm towards Raina.  
  
“Come with me,” Loki whispered to her one last time.  Rain’s only response was to look up at Loki with wide, frightened and questioning eyes.  
  
“Thor, gather everyone and we shall return to our realm.”  Odin said commandingly.  Everyone looked at one another, then specifically towards Raina and Rachel.  They threw themselves into a huge group hug, everyone tightly grasping on to the other.  When they pulled apart, Thor, Clint, Tony, Natasha, and Bruce took a few steps toward Odin.  
  
“Rachel,” Steve started, holding both of her hands in his.  
  
“I know,” She said with tears in her eyes.  
  
“No. Come with me.”  He said, echoing Loki’s sentiments.  Rachel’s eyes widened, but she shook her head, “I can’t.  I’m so sorry Steve; I can’t leave my family here.”  Steve nodded, swallowing back the sadness, he kissed her on the forehead, “I understand.”  He didn’t.  Steve couldn’t understand why, if she loved him, she could stand to stay; he understood duty, but he couldn’t understand how obligations would win over love, but even with the pain of her rejection, it solidified his thoughts that he had done the right thing by not verbally reciprocating her feelings.  He took a few steps from her and went to join the group.  His eyes never left hers and he could see that she was desperately trying not to cry.  They were all calling their farewells to both Rachel and Rain.  
  
“Thor, get your brother.”  Loki had not moved from his spot next to Raina and was still pleading with her to go with him.  Raina was looking between Rachel and Loki.  She couldn’t decide.  She couldn’t leave Rachel but she didn’t want to stay here without Loki.   Thor moved forward and pulled his brother towards the group.  Loki offered up no resistance.  He could only see Raina’s answer being no.  Thor turned to his father, hand still on Loki’s arm, “Can you not bring them as well?”  
  
“I cannot,” was the All-Father’s response Thor nodded and from within the light, he raised his hand, silently calling Mjolnir, which he grasped firmly when the hammer came to him.  The light started growing once again, engulfing them all in it.  Raina rushed forwards, tears pouring from her eyes, she refusing to let Loki leave without her. Rachel grabbed her friend, tears coming out of her eye as well. Once the light dissipated, Rachel held Rain as she started sobbing even harder, falling on the ground to her knees.  Rachel dropped to her knees as well; she had forced herself to stop crying and was holding Raina close with a stony look on her face. “It’s going to be okay,” Rachel said with a wavering voice, knowing with the deepest fiber of her being that it wasn’t.  She wasn’t sure if anything would ever be right with them again.


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so we're done for part one of this story. Thank you all for reading and I truly appreciate it. Tomorrow we start with posts for the interlude!

Thor was walking with his father in Asgard, about to head to Thor’s welcoming banquet, “Father, how could _you_ not have had enough power to take Rachel and Raina with us?”  It had been bothering Thor in the two weeks that he had been back in his reality, and the question just slipped out, though once it was out, he did not regret asking it.  
  
“I could have brought them.”  Thor stopped dead in his tracks.  “Then why would you not?”  Odin continued walking, forcing Thor to catch up.  “It was obvious that one did _not_ want to come and the other could not decide.  We needed to get back and I thought it was kinder to make the decision for her.”  
  
Thor’s mouth dropped open in shock.  “She could have helped Loki,” Thor stated, careful not to raise his voice.  
  
“Son, she could not have been happy here, not without her friend, but neither of them belonged here.  And do you truly want her to come here to see Loki’s punishment?  I was doing them both good.”  Thor remained quiet.  He knew that what his father had done was logical, it removed any blame that Raina could place on Rachel for not wanting to leave her family by Odin saying that he could not take them into their reality, but Thor didn’t like the idea that Rachel and Steve and Raina and Loki would have to be separated like that, with no real farewell.  Thor felt as though he knew a little about that and felt that it was an unfair treatment to all involved.  

“Would taking Raina have lessened Loki’s punishment?” Thor asked, unsure as to why the question popped into his head.

“No Thor and that is why she is better off in her reality with her friend rather than sitting here watching Loki suffer every day.”

Thor walked silently with his father. Thor believed that they could have taken both women and that Rachel would have been happy in his version of Midgard, with Steve, Thor thought that they might have even been able to get Jess and Dom to bring back eventually.  Thor also believed that Raina could have made Loki better, more like the way he was before he found out he was adopted. He sighed as they made it to the banquet hall.

“Come now Thor,” Odin said before they entered, “We have waited on this feast to respect your brother’s pain in his separation from the mortal and in his punishment.  Please try and act like you consider this a celebration.”

Thor nodded, “Yes Father.”


End file.
